The best city to retire offers bingo, fishing and a low crime rate

By Jessica Hall

What is climate change? Hot weather is something all of the top 5 cities to retire in have in common, as ranked by WalletHub

Four Florida cities are among the top 10 cities to retire to, with Tampa taking the top spot, according to the latest ranking from WalletHub.

Despite issues like climate change and the high cost of living, Tampa has offered other draws for retirees, such as being located in a tax-exempt state and having a variety of activities for seniors.

“Tampa is in the top 50 for affordability, which isn’t too bad,” said Gil Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “Tampa also ranks fifth overall in terms of activities. It has the highest number of fishing facilities per capita and ranks seventh in terms of bingo halls per capita. It is also in the top 30 for quality of life, with a very low property-crime rate.”

WalletHub compared more than 180 US cities across 45 key metrics of affordability, quality of life, health care, and availability of recreational activities. After Tampa, the other cities in the top five were Scottsdale, Arizona, and three more Florida areas: Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Miami.

Don’t know where to retire? We have some suggestions

Our study looked at four key factors: affordability, activities, quality of life and health care. Larger cities tend to rank above 30 in their best category and fall below 50 in at least one category. For example, Scottsdale, which ranks The second overall, Gonzalez said: “It has very good results in terms of activities, quality of life and health care, but it is not affordable for everyone, as it landed in 61st place.”

“For the cities (cities) at the bottom of our rankings, every category has low scores, which means their conditions are not well suited to the elderly or those planning to retire soon,” Gonzalez said.

Stockton, California, was last on the list, along with Newark, New Jersey; Bakersfield, California. San Bernardino, California. and Detroit.

Best cities to retire

1.   Tampa, Florida 
2.   Scottsdale, Arizona 
3.   Fort Lauderdale, Florida 
4.   Orlando, Florida 
5.   Miami, Florida 
6.   Casper, Wyoming 
7.   Denver, Colorado 
8.   Cincinnati, Ohio 
9.   Charleston, South Carolina 
10.  Atlanta, Georgia 

The worst cities to retire

173.  Baltimore, Maryland 
174.  Vancouver, Washington 
175.  Rancho Cucamonga, California 
176.  Wichita, Kansas 
177.  Bridgeport, Connecticut 
178.  Detroit, Michigan 
179.  San Bernardino, California 
180.  Bakersfield, California 
181.  Newark, New Jersey 
182.  Stockton, California 

Among the other highlights of the report are the following:

Pearl City, Hawaii, had the highest percentage of residents 65 and older, at 25.5%, which is 3.2 times higher than Irving, Texas, the city with the lowest percentage of residents in that age group, at 8%.

WalletHub said Brownsville, Texas, has the lowest adjusted cost of living index for retirees, at 75.39, which is 2.4 times lower than Honolulu and Pearl City, the two cities with the highest number, at 182.16.

Plano, Texas, had the highest share of workers 65 and older, at 26.7%, which is 2.4 times higher than Gulfport, Mississippi, the city with the lowest share, at 11.1%.

St. Louis had the highest number of home healthcare facilities per 100,000 residents, with 79.26, which is 28.8 times more than New York, the city with the lowest number, with 2.75, according to WalletHub.

The top cities didn’t necessarily match WalletHub’s different ranking of the best states to retire in, which had Virginia, Florida, Colorado, Wyoming, and Delaware in the top spots.

“It’s mostly a matter of scope. While Virginia ranked as the best state to retire in general, its cities aren’t at the top of our list. That’s because narrowing our report down to the city level helped us look ever more deeply into conditions and facilities,” Gonzales said. provided by these areas for the elderly. Instead of using state-level data, we can tap into the city details available.”

– Jessica Hall

This content was generated by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently of Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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09-06-23 1305ET

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