By Mark Ambrogi
Hamilton County ranks No. 1 in Indiana median household wealth among counties and also in retirement readiness index.
The survey was by SmartAsset.com, a financial technology website which provides dates for big financial decisions such as home buying, retirement and life insurance.
“We have more than 130 data partners we work with to power that advice,” said A.J. Smith, managing editor for SmartAsset.com. “Our fingers are always in that data and we’re always analyzing it. We want to inform and educate when people are making these big decisions.”
Smith said in many states, the counties with the highest median income were not the tops in retirement readiness.
Hamilton County, which has median household income average of $71,727, had a score of 61.54 retirement readiness index. Smith said Hamilton County did well nationally, too, with No. 51 ranking.
“We looked at the ability to save in the county and that was a function of how much it cost to live there versus the income people are making,” Smith said. “That gives you a measure of the opportunity for people to save for retirement. We also looked at the tax friendliness of the area. If you would stay in Hamilton County and retire there, how tax friendly it is. You have to save more if you are going to face tax barriers in retirement.”
The No. 1 county (Sumpter County in Florida) in the nation was given a score of 100. Then SmartAsset analysts graded on a curve on that basis, Smith said.
SmartAsset combined factors of total wealth, social security income, cost of living and tax to determine which counties had the residents who were best meeting their retirement goals.
This is the first year SmartAsset.com has conducted the survey. For more information, visitsmartasset.com/retirement/401k-calculator#indiana.
| County | Median Household Wealth | Social Security Income | Cost of Living | Income Tax as a percent of Gross Income | Retirement Readiness Index | |
| 1 | Hamilton, IN | $71,727 | $19,900 | $18,657 | 2.59 percent | 61.54 |
| 2 | Warrick, IN | $46,782 | $19,694 | $16,730 | 2.29 percent | 52.49 |
| 3 | Posey, IN | $44,938 | $19,553 | $16,156 | 2.59 percent | 51.61 |
| 4 | Tipton, IN | $52,187 | $18,099 | $17,931 | 2.93 percent | 49.59 |
| 5 | Dearborn, IN | $45,147 | $18,093 | $17,180 | 2.35 percent | 49.12 |
| 6 | Boone, IN | $48,069 | $18,637 | $18,085 | 2.59 percent | 48.34 |
| 7 | Carroll, IN | $43,698 | $17,404 | $16,089 | 3.00 percent | 48.00 |
| 8 | Hendricks, IN | $49,433 | $19,414 | $18,469 | 2.82 percent | 47.90 |
| 9 | Hancock, IN | $48,645 | $19,268 | $18,184 | 2.97 percent | 47.44 |
| 10 | Spencer, IN | $38,963 | $17,237 | $15,814 | 2.47 percent | 47.32 |
