Here’s how long you can live in SC on $1M in retirement savings, 2025 analysis shows

Retiring in South Carolina with $1 million in the bank is a worthy goal, but will it be enough?

GoBankingRates recently released a report that shows how long $1 million in retirement savings would last for each state. The personal finance website based the report annual living expenses, including groceries, housing, utilities, transportation and healthcare.

GoBankingRates found that if you live in one of the more expensive states, like New York or Hawaii, you’ll want to work as long as possible because $1 million won’t cover 15 years-worth of living expenses.

But what about South Carolina?

Here’s the breakdown for the Palmetto State. For a full breakdown of every other state, click here.

Retirement cost of living in SC with $1 million

According to the report, $1 million in savings in South Carolina would last 18.7 years.

• Annual groceries cost: $4,921
  
  
• Annual housing cost: $10,386
  
  
• Annual utilities cost: $4,430
  
  
• Annual transportation cost: $4,382
  
  
• Annual healthcare cost: $7,378
  
  
• Total annual expenditures: $53,507
  
  

Methodology

To determine how long $1 million would last in each state, GOBankingRates found the national average annual expenditures for people 65 and older using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The site created state-level annual expenditure estimates by multiplying the national figure by each state’s overall cost of living index score from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center. Finally, GOBankingRates divided each state’s average annual expenditure estimates by $1 million to get the results.

Top 10 states where $1 million retirement would last the longest

1. West Virginia: 24.5 years
   
   
2. Mississippi: 23.3 years
   
   
3. Arkansas: 22.6 years
   
   
4. Oklahoma: 22.5 years
   
   
5. Alabama: 22.1 years
   
   
6. Louisiana: 22.1 years
   
   
7. Kansas: 21.6 years
   
   
8. Iowa: 21.6 years
   
   
9. Kentucky: 21.4 years
   
   
10. Michigan: 21 years
    
    

Top 10 states where $1 million retirement run out the fastest

1. Hawaii: 7.3 years
   
   
2. California: 9.2 years
   
   
3. Massachusetts: 10 years
   
   
4. Washington: 12 years
   
   
5. New Jersey: 12.5 years
   
   
6. New York: 13.1 years
   
   
7. Oregon: 13.2 years
   
   
8. Colorado: 13.4 years
   
   
9. Utah: 13.6 years
   
   
10. New Hampshire: 13.6 years
    
    

This story was originally published July 10, 2025 at 6:00 AM.

Patrick McCreless

The State

803-771-8353

Patrick McCreless is the Southeast service journalism editor for McClatchy, who leads and edits a team of six reporters in South Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi. The team writes about trending news of the day and topics that help readers in their daily lives and better informs them about their communities. He attended Jacksonville State University in Alabama and grew up in Tuscaloosa, AL.