Is anyone living in Arizona or any other affordable state?

Where I live in Michigan a one bedroom apt is about 500 a month. I have about 10 acres of land and property taxes are under $2500 a year and includes garbage and recycling. Some of the best lakes in the world according to National Geographic are an hour from my house. Food and insurance are cheap I do not pay more than $1.50 for milk which other people here do, it is insane.

The reason I asked about retirement is this is probably the most generous state in terms of programs for aging in place.

Anyone from CA or TX, which is the worst, should take a class on driving in the snow.

NH2021, you can get fairly cheap apartments. It depends on where you want to or are willing to live.

I have seen apartments that show 1 bedroom staring at 700.00 but, it is neighborhoods that I would not want to live in. Mostly because I don't like living in the middle of town. If you are planning on renting I am pretty sure that you can look up apartments, condos, etc online and see what and were.

Arizona chamber of commerce's have really nice welcome packages that provide a lot of the information you are looking for.

One thing I recommend is calling the local law enforcement when you narrow your search down and ask about the crime rate, they are usually happy to share that information.

Gosh, 1,700.00 monthly for a 1 bedroom apartment makes just about any place cheaper to live.

We have a seasonal home in WV, it seems pretty affordable in some areas. Property taxes are low, and we have alot of elderly neighbors who seem to do OK. However your healthcare may be limited depending on where you live. If you are near the MD border you have access to great health care in MD or VA, or near the Ohio border. It is a beautiful state and it has crossed my mind that we may retire there someday

I think your asking the wrong questions. How old are you? Do you have retirement saving, if not how do you plan to live in old age? Are you still in the workforce? All these questions are important to make a decision.

I think I already commented on your first thread that much depends on what area of your State you are in. I live in San Francisco, which is notoriously expensive, but when we had a small cabin in Mariposa County it was so very much more affordable in every single way, especially food and housing.
One thing you should consider is age related things. For instance, when we built out little country house it was our full intention to move there permanently after retirement. We enjoyed it part time for many years, was only three hours from the big city. However, the fact is that if you own in SF and sell, you are never going to get back unless you are wealthy indeed. And just about the time we were both retired,and could have done that and moved, we started to think about the age creeping in. How much longer would we like to weed whip and chop wood. And then there was the transportation thing. One of my eyes did a major fail and I stopped driving. To lose a partner and not be driving was unthinkable in the future. There was no public transit; there was only a small community hospital.
I would say there is a lot to consider in what your needs will be. I know a friend who retired to Grants Pass, Ore, a beautiful wooded trailer park, so pretty. She was burned out, lost everything and fled with only her cat. She had retired early to be near her children. Now, no jobs, no home, and she is on the move again to Portland, where, yes, housing more expensive.
Lots to think about here. I sure wish you luck.

Needhelp2021, Arizona is not necessarily a cheap or inexpensive place to live. Our food is high, property taxes, sales tax, rental taxes among a few items is pretty high.

However, you can go to more rural areas and pay a bit less for something's. One small town has sales tax of 11.5%, my city is only 8.2% so it is important to narrow down location and then contact the local chamber of commerce to help you really see what the COL is.

Outside of Flagstaff you pay .05 per gallon of water, and that is a ten year old cost, it may be more now.

I personally think finding a place that meets all of your requirements for quality of life will help you be happier in the long run.

Best of luck finding the perfect fit.

https://www.agingcare.com/questions/i-am-thinking-of-moving-away-from-california-what-states-have-a-low-cost-of-living-463301.htm

This is a similar post you made from Nov 29th. There are answers on that post.