AARP http://www.aarp.org/home-family/friends-family/info-2017/25-best-places-to-retire-fd.html and others often publish lists of “Best Places to Retire”. First, “best” is subjective. One person’s “best” can be another person’s “worst”.
Second, these “best” lists often include taxes, the higher the taxes the lower the rating. Tax is one of those things you get what you pay for. If “high” taxes are paying for subsidizing business to get them to relocate, the taxes are not much benefit for retirees. If the “high” taxes are paying for infrastructure such as emergency services then they can be of great benefit to retirees.
Even a given area can have great variation in benefit to retirees. For example, most senior housing is in the “middle of nowhere”: infrequent bus service and very long walks to anything. On the other hand, when we decide to sell our house, there are several senior residences that are close to bus stops and within walking distance of shops and restaurants.
