A new ranking of best states to retire puts Virginia first, while traditional havens score poorly.

Are retirees looking for their dream home in all the wrong places? Florida, which helped popularize the notion of a snowbird retirement, has the most residents age 65-plus. Yet it now ranks near the bottom of a new list of states deemed most desirable for folks contemplating retirement. Virginia tops the list, while another long-standing retirement haven, California, comes in dead last. The Midwest generally shows well.