South Carolina remained atop WalletHub’s annual survey of Best and Worst States for Military Retirees for the third year in a row, with North Dakota moving into the second spot and Wyoming – ranked by the financial site as the top state for all retirees – taking third.

Oregon finished 51st in the military-retiree rankings (which include Washington, D.C.) for the fourth straight year. Vermont took 50th, while neighboring New Hampshire came in No. 4.

[RELATED: MOAA’s Retirement Resources]

The full list, released May 18, weighs economic, quality of life, and health care factors across 28 metrics such as tax rates, job growth, weather, availability and quality of VA and military facilities, and cost of living. Maryland fell from second place on last year’s list to fifth this year, while Virginia slipped from fifth to 11th.

Among the survey’s findings:

• South Carolina was the only state to rank in the top 10 in all three categories – second in Economic Environment behind Alabama, third in Quality of Life behind Wyoming and Maryland, and 10th in Health Care.
  
  
• Massachusetts ranked first in Health Care and ninth in Economic Environment but finished 50th in Quality of Life, just above Oregon.
  
  
• Washington, D.C., was the only jurisdiction that didn’t crack the top 40 in any category, finishing 41st in Economic Environment, 49th in Quality of Life, and 48th in Health Care. Vermont took 40th in Health Care but was last in Economic Environment and 42nd in Quality of Life.

[RELATED: MOAA’s Military State Report Card and Tax Guide]

While nearly 63,000 military retirees lived in South Carolina in fiscal year 2021 (the last year for which figures are readily available), North Dakota (5,588) and Wyoming (5,888) are among the states with the smallest military retiree populations, outranking only Rhode Island (5,170). States with the most military retirees were scattered throughout the list, with Texas taking 20th, California in 35th, and Florida in seventh.

Data from a range of government and nongovernment sources, including MOAA, was collected in April to complete the rankings. See the WalletHub site for the full survey and methodology.

WalletHub puts out its military-retiree list every May and publishes a best and worst list of veteran-friendly cities every November. Austin, Texas, took the top spot last year.