15 Best Small Towns To Retire on $2,300 a Month

Retirement is a time of frugality for many, since other than Social Security and pension payments, many folks don’t have much money coming in. If you’re not rooted to a specific location, you are free to move to where the living comes cheaply, like the 10 small towns on this list.

For this study, GOBankingRates considered small towns with populations of less than 30,000 where you can retire on a budget of $2,300 or less, using data from ApartmentList. We also used Sperling’s Best to find the cost-of-living index for every city on the list and data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2020 Consumer Expenditure Survey. We then added monthly housing, grocery and healthcare costs together to find where a person 65 and older could get by on the $2,300 budget.Equally important was a city’s livability score — the cities on this list had to have a score of 65 or higher as sourced from AreaVibes. When all was said and done, three states dominated the list. Keep reading to find out just how little it costs to live in these small towns.

• Average rent for 1-bedroom: $1,073
• Monthly expenditures: $2,204
• Livability score: 66

In Waite Park, nearly 21% of the population is aged 65 or older. And here, you’ll pay only $362.38 in monthly grocery costs and $442.30 in monthly healthcare, the latter which is the lowest in the study.

• Average rent for 1-bedroom: $934
• Monthly expenditures: $2,140
• Livability score: 73

Healthcare costs aren’t as low as Winona, but they are still about $60 a month below the national average at $528.42. Here, expect to spend about $362 for groceries and $315 for utilities, both of which are about 3.5% below monthly national costs.

• Average rent for 1-bedroom: $1.036

• Monthly expenditures: $2,245
• Livability score: 83

In Reading, nearly 17% of the population is age 65 or older. Healthcare costs average $523.74 per month, which is on the lower side in the study.

• Average rent for 1-bedroom: $1,026
• Monthly expenditures: $2,256
• Livability score: 80

In Carnegie, your paycheck won’t be stretched overly thin by the cost of healthcare, which is $519.63. Utility costs are a bit pricey at $337.53 per month, which is above the national average.

• Average rent for 1-bedroom: $701
• Monthly expenditures: $1,887
• Livability score: 71

In Austin, rents are cheap and that helps to keep monthly expenditures at a very reasonable level. The costs of groceries, healthcare and utilities sit below the national average, with healthcare costs more than 10% less.

• Average rent for 1-bedroom: $692
• Monthly expenditures: $1,964
• Livability score: 70

In Steubenville, more than 19% of the population is 65 or older. Monthly utilities average $330 per month, which is above the national cost. Rents, however, average just $692, which is about one-third of the national standard and one of three locales in the study where it costs less than $700 a month for a one-bedroom place.

• Average rent for 1-bedroom: $1,119
• Monthly expenditures: $2,290

In Seabrook, monthly expenditures are almost $400 less than the national average. Here, while healthcare is a decent chunk of expenses, at $513.44, other expenses are low, like $352.09 in monthly grocery costs.

• Average rent for 1-bedroom: $872
• Monthly expenditures: $2,073
• Livability score: 71

Of the three Pennsylvania locations to rank in the study, Greensburg comes in with the lowest monthly expenditures in the state. Among the residents of Greensburg, which sits in the Pittsburgh metro area, 22.1% of them are 65 and older.

I’m a Fina

• Average rent for 1-bedroom: $794
• Monthly expenditures: $2,104
• Livability score: 71

In Wheeling, nearly a quarter of the residents – 24% of them – are 65 and older, the highest number in the study. While the overall monthly costs sound low, an average of $656.13 month will go to healthcare, one of the highest amounts in the study and 12% over the national average.

• Average rent for 1-bedroom: $737
• Monthly expenditures: $2,040
• Livability score: 82

Despite the cold winters in North Dakota, utilities average just $289.50 per month, making it one of the best values in this category in the study. You’ll need those savings, however, to cover healthcare costs, which come in at 10.9% above the national average at nearly $650 per month.

• Average rent for 1-bedroom: $1,016
• Monthly expenditures: $2,189
• Livability score: 86

The rent in Willoughby is higher than in all but one of the five Ohio locations on the list, but you’ll make up for it with healthcare expenses. The $490.34 monthly average is the second lowest in the study and 16% below the national average.

• Average rent for 1-bedroom: $797
• Monthly expenditures: $1,932
• Livability score: 84

Grocery costs average $269.07 per month in Tiffin, the only sub-$300 town in the study, and 28% less than the national average. That’s a benefit for the 18% of the population that is 65 or older.

• Average rent for 1-bedroom: $650
• Monthly expenditures: $1,965
• Livability score: 82

Newton’s affordable $650 average rent – the lowest in the study — helps to make up for high costs of healthcare and utilities, which exceed the national average by 4.6% and 6.4%, respectively.

• Average rent for 1-bedroom: $889
• Monthly expenditures: $1,983

In Parma Heights, which has the highest percentage of people age 65 and over at 20%, you’ll pay the cheapest rent of all the cities on the list, and other expenses are also reasonable. You’ll pay $457.87 in monthly healthcare costs, and $297.28 in monthly utilities.

• Average rent for 1-bedroom: $690
• Monthly expenditures: $1,896
• Livability score: 87

It’s no wonder people 65 and older move to Ashland for retirement. Ashland has rents less than $700, expenses in the grocery, healthcare and utilities categories below the national average, and a livability score of 87, the highest in the study.

Jami Farkas contributed to the reporting of this article.

Disclaimer: Photos are for representational only.

_{Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates found the best small town (population less than 30,000) cities to retire on a budget of $2,300 a month or less. GOBankingRates used Zillow’s February 2023 data to find every small town in the U.S. that has an (1) average 2023 monthly rent of $1,250 or less. GOBankingRates then used Sperling’s Best to find the cost-of-living index for every location on the list, looking at (2) grocery, (3) utilities and (4) healthcare index scores. Next, GOBankingRates used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2021 Consumer Expenditure Survey to find the annual expenditure amount for grocery (“food at home”), healthcare, and utilities costs for people aged 65 and older to find how much someone in that age range would spend on necessities in each city on a monthly basis. GOBankingRates then added monthly housing, grocery, healthcare, and utilities costs together to find where a person 65 and older could survive on $2,300 or less. In order for a city to be qualified for the study, it had to have a livabilty score of 65 or higher as sourced from AreaVibes and its population had to be 16.8% (the national average) or more over the age of 65, according to the Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey. For final rankings ,all qualified cities were ranked by (5) total monthly expenditures, (6) % of population over 65 and (7) livability with the lowest score being best. Factor (7) was weighted 1.5x. All data was collected on and up to date as of April 5, 2023.}

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