What Are the Best States for Military Retirees?

By Muhammad Ejaz·Finance content creator·30 September 2026

Run one military retiree’s numbers through the same tax rules in every state. Eighteen states cost this household nothing in state tax through age 85. This page ranks all 51 by what the household actually pays, computed rather than rated.

The household this page runs

One person, age 62. A $30,000-a-year military pension starts now. Social Security pays the average retired-worker benefit, $2,071 a month from 67. Savings: $500,000 in an IRA.

Spending is $5,000 a month, rising with inflation. The pension rises with inflation too, which matches how military retired pay actually behaves. Savings grow 5% a year nominal; inflation runs 2.5%. Every one of those is a stated assumption, not a fact about you. Change any of them and the ranking can move, which is why the calculator below lets you.

This is one household, not a universal one. A married couple, a much larger pension, or Social Security started earlier all change the numbers. Sometimes that is enough to reorder the list.

What does not change is which states tax which part of the income. That is what this page reports.

Eighteen states charge this household nothing

Run the household above to age 85 in every state. Eighteen states collect no state income tax from it at all. Nine of those have no state income tax of any kind. The other nine reach zero on their own exemptions.

Oregon costs this household the most. About $66,600 in state tax by 85. Its $500,000 runs out around age 111 — the only state where that happens more than a year before 120.

Montana is close behind, at about $46,300 by 85. Its money runs out around age 119. Every other state leaves the money lasting past 120, the edge of the IRS life-expectancy table this site's engine uses.

All 51, ranked by state tax paid through 85

Lowest total state tax first. Ties at $0 are listed alphabetically, because the engine reports no difference between them for this household. Georgia is held out of the ranking and marked not computed. See the note beneath the table.

Computed by this site's own state-study engine (src/statestudy.js), the same one behind how long $500,000 lasts in every state. Georgia is not in the table: its under-65 military exclusion depends on the still-unsettled effective date of House Bill 266. See which states do not tax military retirement. This household's Georgia figure is not computed rather than guessed. Figures run 2026-09-28.

Reproduce this yourself

Every figure above comes from one function, run once per state, on the household stated below. Change any input and every state in the table changes with it.

• Filer. Single, age 62.
• Pension. $30,000 a year, military, starting now, rising with inflation.
• Social Security. $24,852 a year (the national average) starting at 67.
• Savings. $500,000 in an IRA, growing 5% a year.
• Spending. $60,000 a year, rising with inflation at 2.5%.

Two reference points to check any other tool against. In Texas, which has no income tax, the first year's IRA withdrawal is about $35,705 to cover $60,000 of spending after federal tax. In Oregon the same spending needs about $41,803 withdrawn the first year. State tax on both the pension and the withdrawal itself has to come from somewhere.

What this ranking leaves out

No sales tax and no property tax. No VA disability compensation: this site takes no disability rating as an input, because that pay is a separate, uniformly tax-free amount that would not change the ranking. Add your own figure to "Your numbers" in the state study to see it there. No cost-of-living adjustment beyond the state tax rules themselves. No TRICARE, Medicare or other health-cost line, though the state study lets you add one. No state below age 62, and no household but a single filer. A different household reorders this table.

What the ranking does not tell you

A state at the top of this list is not automatically the right one. Property tax and the cost of housing move by more than income tax does for most retirees. Several of the eighteen zero-tax states make some of that back through higher property or sales tax. Run the full state comparison before deciding on tax alone. Weigh distance from family, climate, and access to a VA or military treatment facility against whatever this table shows.

What would the same $500,000 do without a military pension at all? Compare this ranking against how long $500,000 lasts in every state, for a household living on savings and Social Security alone. The two rankings do not always agree. A pension changes which states' exemptions actually apply.

Printed from https://savingslast.com/best-states-for-military-retirees/ on . The figures reflect the inputs shown and the rules as published on that date.