Here’s how long $1 million in retirement savings lasts in NC, study shows

If you retired in North Carolina with $1 million in retirement savings, how long would the money last?

Would you have enough to live comfortably in the Tar Heel State?

North Carolina is one of the least expensive states in the United States to retire based on annual spending, according to a new study by the personal finance service website GoBankingRates.

“As big a chunk of change as $1 million sounds like, surprisingly it doesn’t last quite as long as you might think it would — but that all depends on the state you live in when you retire,” GoBankingRates writer J. Arky wrote in a May 26 article titled “How Long $1 Million in Retirement Savings Will Last in Every State.”

“The traditional standard for a comfortable retirement is around $1 million — although you can get by on less in some states and need much more in other states. This number is way out of reach for many Americans,” Arky wrote.

Here’s how much you need to retire comfortably in North Carolina, according to GoBankingRates:

How long does $1 million in retirement savings last in North Carolina?

The average American needed about $1.26 million to retire comfortably in 2025, a Northwestern Mutual survey found, down from $1.46 million the previous year.

In North Carolina, $1 million in retirement savings would last about 17.5 years, according to GoBankingRates.

The average monthly Social Security benefit across all 50 states was $1,825.14 as of December 2022, according to the most recent data from the Social Security Administration.

In North Carolina, the average monthly benefit was $1,909.33, according to figures from the federal agency.

Here’s how that breaks down in terms of annual living costs in the state, GoBankingRates reported:

North Carolina

• Annual groceries cost: $4,877
• Annual housing cost: $11,176
• Annual utilities cost: $4,204
• Annual transportation cost: $4,331
• Annual healthcare cost: $8,306
• Total annual expenditures: $57,186

Where are the cheapest, more expensive states to retire?

West Virginia was the best state in the nation for stretching your retirement dollars, the site’s study found.

It would take 24.5 years to exhaust retirement savings in West Virginia, noting that annual spending amounts to $40,816.

In contrast, Hawaii is the most expensive place to spend your retirement, GoBankingRates said.

On average, yearly spending in the state is $137,773. In Hawaii, retirement savings would only last 7.3 years.

How did GoBankingRates come up with findings?

To find how long $1 million retirement benefits would last, GoBankingRates looked at the national average annual expenditures for people 65 and older, based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The site then multiplied the national figure by the overall cost-of-living index score for all 50 states and the District of Columbia 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.

This story was originally published July 14, 2025 at 7:00 AM.