(MONEY Magazine) – Sure, before you decide where to retire, you plan to study the annual - rainfall, the hospitals and the golfing. But have you considered the taxes? If not, you're asking for more than crowded emergency rooms and sodden greens. MONEY's exclusive table on the facing page shows why: A retired couple's total tax bill -- including property taxes -- can range from Alaska's amazingly low $133 to Wisconsin's equally startling $7,449. The reason: 42 of the 50 states give varying tax breaks to people over 65. Alaska, for example, excludes a fat $150,000 of the assessed value of a senior's home from property tax. The winners on our list, led by Alaska, Wyoming and Delaware, all offer such treats, as well as better-known ones like freedom from state income taxes for all residents (seven states). The losers extend few or no breaks to seniors and heavily tax all residents' income. Still, there are surprises lurking in our table, even among high-tax states. New York, the worst tax hell in MONEY's January ranking of state and local taxes on working households, rises a few notches to 43rd place for retirees, thanks mostly to its generous pension exemptions. Hawaii vaults from its position as No. 35 in the January ranking to a relatively hospitable 20 here, because of its property tax breaks. In our table, we've ranked the 50 states and the District of Columbia on the 1991 income, sales, gas and property taxes (both on real estate and on intangible property, such as stocks and bonds) for a hypothetical couple making $48,100 a year, the median for retired MONEY subscribers. The couple, both age 65, receive retirement income from several sources: $11,977 in Social Security, $14,478 from investments, $9,379 from private pensions and $12,266 from earnings. The property tax estimates reflect what the couple would pay in the city in each state that has the largest concentration of residents 65 or older. We assumed that the couple live in a 1,600-square-foot, two-bedroom house or in a comparable condo or townhouse, depending on the norm for each city. They spend $24,145 a year on such items as food, clothing, drugs, gasoline and household goods. Here is a more detailed look at our table's findings: -- Property tax. Besides Alaska, eight states offer property tax relief to homeowners over 65. Hawaii, for example, exempts the first $100,000 of home value for a married couple ages 65 to 69; those 70 and above get a $120,000 break. Kentucky lets homeowners 65 and over subtract $20,300. Mississippi gives up the first $60,000. Fourteen states provide homestead exemptions to all homeowners, including those over 65. Examples: $75,000 in Louisiana; as much as $50,000 in Idaho; $30,000 in Washington, D.C.; $25,000 in Florida; and up to $9,090 in Oklahoma. -- Pensions. All states except California, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Nebraska, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin allow you to subtract some portion of your government, military or private pension in calculating your income tax. The table shows how much. The totals assume that your only income is from the pension and you use the state's standard deduction. If you have other income sources, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah and Virginia may reduce their exemption amounts as your income increases. For instance, Idaho cuts its federal pension exclusion of $18,396 by the amount of any Social Security income. Oregon allows only couples earning less than $45,000 a credit of up to 9% of pension income. Among the kindest states, Alabama, Hawaii, Illinois and Pennsylvania fully exclude almost every type of pension. New York and Colorado exempt up to $40,000 of a couple's private pension income. And Georgia exempts from tax the first $20,000 of a married couple's pensions or other income, which can include $8,000 of earnings from jobs. -- Sales tax. Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon have no sales tax. Only Illinois and New Mexico tax prescription drugs. Most states don't tax food bought at grocery stores -- a major expense for retired couples who have raised their kids and paid off their mortgages. The offending exceptions: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming. For the fashionably retired, note that Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island largely exempt clothing from sales taxes. -- Social Security. Fifteen states tax Social Security as the federal government does: If a couple make more than $32,000 -- $25,000 for singles -- up to half of Social Security is taxable at their usual rate. Colorado lets you exclude from state taxes some of your Social Security that is federally taxable. Of course, revenue-starved states, which together boosted taxes by $16.2 billion or 5.4% for 1992, shouldn't be trusted to leave any tax breaks intact. Signs of the times: Led by California, some eight states have recently begun pursuing the pensions of retirees who have moved elsewhere. (For more on this trend, see Editor's Notes, page 7.) And eight states levy intangibles taxes on your investments -- a practice that tends to target retirees. Florida, for example, taxes certain stocks, bonds and mutual funds at a rate of as much as $1.50 per $1,000 of their value. And this from a state that is otherwise a happy haven for seniors.

CHART: NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: Sources: Income tax calculations by Keith Carlson, Minnesota Senate Tax Committee; Claritas/NPDC; Century 21 Real Estate; Commerce Clearing House, State Tax Guide; Vertex Inc. CAPTION: NO CAPTION