RALEIGH -- South Dakota is the best state to retire in and New York is the worst, according to the latest data from Bankrate.com. Chris Kahn, research and statistics analyst for Bankrate.com, says North Carolina ranks 25th out of 50, and ranks right near the national average in most of the categories considered.

"Twenty-five out of 50. There are a lot of reasons for that. There are some states that rank in the middle and they do because they have one or two things that are particularly bad that are balancing out some things that are really good. North Carolina, you guys have - almost right across the board - you're pretty good at just about everything, right around the national average," Kahn said.

He said North Carolina's healthcare quality and cost of living are right around the national average, while weather and health care quality are better than the national average.