10 Southern Cities To Retire on $3,000 a Month

Making the decision to retire is a big one — and you’re just about there. You know you want to settle down in the South, so now you just need to find a new hometown that fits your budget.

To help you figure out where you can live comfortably on a fixed income, GOBankingRates conducted a study to find the best Southern cities to retire on a budget of $3,000 per month. The study encompassed Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

While we’re only going to highlight our top 10 finishers, 35 total cities made the cut for a couple to live on $3,000 a month, when the costs of rent, groceries, healthcare, utilities and transportation, combined with the area’s livability score, are calculated. Ready to find out which cities ranked highest? Here are the 10 best Southern cities to retire on $3,000 per month.

• Livability Score: 84
• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,045
• Monthly Grocery Cost per Couple: $397
• Monthly Healthcare Cost per Couple: $855
• Monthly Utilities Cost per Couple: $305
• Monthly Transportation Cost per Couple: $358
• Monthly Necessities Cost per Couple: $2,961

There’s a lot to like about living in Charleston, starting with the livability score of 84 — which puts the city at No. 2 among the 10 Southern cities in the study. It also has the lowest utility prices, and you’ll pay just 86% of the national average price of $353.

However, if you move to Charleston, prepare for sticker shock over healthcare costs. At $855 per month — that’s more than $10,200 on an annual basis — it’s 36% above the national average of about $628 per month.

• Livability Score: 76
• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,193
• Monthly Grocery Cost per Couple: $385
• Monthly Healthcare Cost per Couple: $603
• Monthly Utilities Cost per Couple: $329
• Monthly Transportation Cost per Couple: $303
• Monthly Necessities Cost per Couple: $2,812

The average rent of $1,193 per month in Johnson City, about 100 miles northeast of Knoxville, is the second highest of the cities in the study, but still more than $800 less than the national average of $2,019. Groceries, healthcare, utilities and transportation all cost below the national average.

• Livability Score: 71
• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,100
• Monthly Grocery Cost per Couple: $360
• Monthly Healthcare Cost per Couple: $628
• Monthly Utilities Cost per Couple: $315
• Monthly Transportation Cost per Couple: $297
• Monthly Necessities Cost per Couple: $2,699

If pleasant weather year-round is a priority for you in retirement, check out Harlingen. Located in the Rio Grande Valley in the southern part of Texas, it is known as a magnificent site for birding. You’ll pay the least for groceries there at about $360 a month — 10% less than the national average of $400.

• Livability Score: 77
• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,179
• Monthly Grocery Cost per Couple: $419
• Monthly Healthcare Cost per Couple: $525
• Monthly Utilities Cost per Couple: $317
• Monthly Transportation Cost per Couple: $365
• Monthly Necessities Cost per Couple: $2,804

When it comes to groceries, Hagerstown is the opposite of Harlingen with the highest prices in the study. However, you’ll more than make up the difference with the price of healthcare, which is the smallest among all the cities and a whopping 14% below the national average — or $103 per month less.

• Livability Score: 83
• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,121
• Monthly Grocery Cost per Couple: $371
• Monthly Healthcare Cost per Couple: $740
• Monthly Utilities Cost per Couple: $343
• Monthly Transportation Cost per Couple: $319
• Monthly Necessities Cost per Couple: $2,895

Florence sits in northern Alabama, south of the Tennessee border, and part of the popular area known as The Shoals. There’s plenty to do there and the livability score is envious, but the amount you’ll pay for necessities each month makes Florence the third-most expensive place to live in this study. That’s driven by the high cost of healthcare, which is nearly 18% more than the national average.

• Livability Score: 74
• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,023
• Monthly Grocery Cost per Couple: $365
• Monthly Healthcare Cost per Couple: $711
• Monthly Utilities Cost per Couple: $347
• Monthly Transportation Cost per Couple: $281
• Monthly Necessities Cost per Couple: $2,726

As its name implies, Texarkana is in eastern Texas, just across the border from Arkansas. Transportation expenses are less than $300 a month, and the price of groceries is the second lowest on the list. However, Texarkana is another place with high healthcare costs — 13% above the national average.

• Livability Score: 70
• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $898
• Monthly Grocery Cost per Couple: $366
• Monthly Healthcare Cost per Couple: $727
• Monthly Utilities Cost per Couple: $351
• Monthly Transportation Cost per Couple: $290
• Monthly Necessities Cost per Couple: $2,632

You’ll find Lufkin in east Texas, located in Texas Forest Country between the Davy Crockett National Forest and the Angelina National Forest. The city of about 40,000 people is the regional center for shopping, industry and medical facilities.

But just as with Texarkana, the price of healthcare is way above the national average. However, Lufkin maintains its affordability on a budget because of low rent, one of just two cities in the study with housing costs below $900 a month.

• Livability Score: 90
• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,267
• Monthly Grocery Cost per Couple: $386
• Monthly Healthcare Cost per Couple: $655
• Monthly Utilities Cost per Couple: $348
• Monthly Transportation Cost per Couple: $299
• Monthly Necessities Cost per Couple: $2,956

Lynchburg has the highest livability score and also the highest rent, and its total monthly necessities cost is No. 2 on the list, just a few dollars less than Charleston’s. However, transportation costs are among the lowest, helping Lynchburg to come in at less than $3,000 a month.

• Livability Score: 74
• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $998
• Monthly Grocery Cost per Couple: $374
• Monthly Healthcare Cost per Couple: $578
• Monthly Utilities Cost per Couple: $335
• Monthly Transportation Cost per Couple: $342
• Monthly Necessities Cost per Couple: $2,627

North Little Rock is one of just three cities in the study with an average rent under $1,000 a month, which is less than half the national average. Healthcare costs that fall 8% below the national average helped North Little Rock to become the city among the 10 on the list with the lowest monthly price for necessities.

• Livability Score: 81
• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $856
• Monthly Grocery Cost per Couple: $387
• Monthly Healthcare Cost per Couple: $836
• Monthly Utilities Cost per Couple: $312
• Monthly Transportation Cost per Couple: $334
• Monthly Necessities Cost per Couple: $2,725

The lowest monthly rent of the cities on the list helped Huntington to capture the top spot in the study. Just as in the other West Virginia city, Charleston, Huntington has annual healthcare costs that average about $10,000 a year for a couple 65 and older. Utilities, as in Charleston, are on the inexpensive side of the list at more than 11% below the national average.

Jennifer Taylor contributed to the reporting for this article.

Methodology: GOBankingRates determined the best cities in the South (TX, OK, AR, LA, MS, AL, GA, FL, SC, NC, VA, MD, DE, WV, KY and TN) to retire on $3,000 or less a month. GOBankingRates first isolated all cities in the South with a 2023 average monthly rent under $1,900 and a size rank below 1,000. GOBankingRates then used Sperling’s Best to find the cost-of-living index for each listed city, looking at grocery, healthcare, utilities and transportation index scores. Next, GOBankingRates used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2022 Consumer Expenditure Survey to find the annual expenditure amount for groceries (“food at home”), utilities, healthcare and transportation costs for people aged 65 and older in order to find how much a couple 65 and over would spend on necessities in each city on a monthly basis. GOBankingRates then added monthly housing, grocery, utilities, transportation and healthcare costs together to find where a couple 65 and older could survive on $3,000 or less. For a city to be qualified for the study, the city had to have a livability score above 70 as sourced from AreaVibes. GOBankingRates scored and combined both livability and monthly necessities expenditure, with the lowest score being best, to determine final rankings. All data was collected and is up to date as of Sept. 13, 2023.

Photo Disclaimer: Please note photos are for representational purposes only. As a result, some of the photos might not reflect the locations listed in this article.