With the share of U.S. adults aged 65 and older expected to comprise more than a fifth of the entire population by 2029 and 23 out of 24 elder-abuse cases going unreported every year, the personal-finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis that identifies 2016’s States with the Best Elder-Abuse Protections.

To determine which states fight the hardest against elder abuse, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 10 key metrics. The data set ranges from “share of elder-abuse, gross-neglect and exploitation complaints” to “total expenditures on elder-abuse prevention per resident aged 65 and older” to “financial elder-abuse laws.”

States with the Best Elder-Abuse Protections States with the Worst Elder-Abuse Protections
1 District of Columbia 42 Alabama
2 Nevada 43 Kentucky
3 Massachusetts 44 Idaho
4 Wisconsin 45 North Dakota
5 Missouri 46 New Jersey
6 Tennessee 47 South Dakota
7 Iowa 48 Rhode Island
8 Louisiana 49 California
9 Vermont 50 Wyoming
10 Hawaii 51 South Carolina

Key Stats

  • Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming have no legislation that protects the elderly from financial crimes.
  • Alaska has the highest total long-term care Ombudsman program funding per resident aged 65 and older, $11.18, which is 16 times higher than in Nebraska, the state with the lowest at $0.68. 
  • The District of Columbia has the highest number of certified volunteer Ombudsmen per 100,000 residents aged 65+ years, 82.26, whereas both South Dakota and Wyoming have none. 
  • Missouri has the highest frequency of assisted-living facilities inspections, twice per year, which is 10 times higher than in both California and Nebraska, the states with the lowest at once every five years. 
  • North Dakota has the highest nursing-homes quality (share of certified nursing-home beds rated 4 or 5 stars), 62.9 percent, which is two times higher than in Louisiana, the state with the lowest at 27.2 percent.

To view the full report and your state’s or the District’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-best-elder-abuse-protection/28754/