50 Best and Worst Retirement Towns

For many of us, the town we retire to isn’t a difficult choice. After all, living near family and friends is often one of the most important elements of what most people envision for their golden years. And, for that matter, a lot of people won’t want to part ways with a town or region they’ve called home for decades.

However, many others are happy to use retirement as a chance to relocate. Sometimes it’s a matter of seeking out a warmer climate, whereas others might just want to trade the high cost of living and fast pace of a major city for somewhere better suited to living on a fixed income. 

Regardless of why you might want to move, though, it’s important to carefully consider your desired landing spot. If you want your nest egg to last, you have to plan carefully around certain expenditures like the annual cost of living or consider what it will cost should you need to hire a home healthcare worker for you or your spouse.

That’s why GOBankingRates put together a study of which cities and towns are best suited for retirement. Taking the 100 municipalities with the highest percentage of the population ages 65 or over, the study scored each location on a number of different factors to determine which are the best — and worst — towns for retirement.

The best retirement towns for this study needed to have a large population of senior citizens, lower-than-average costs for living and purchasing a house, low costs for specialized types of senior care like a home health aide, low or no taxes on retirement and/or Social Security income and a low crime rate.

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GOBankingRates determined the 100 towns with the highest percentage of senior citizens in its population and scored each town on those metrics before coming up with a final ranking. Here are the 25 best retirement towns in the U.S.

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 46.1%
• Median list price: $339,835.52
• Annual cost of living: $21,693.18

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 28.3%
• Median list price: $199,387.81
• Annual cost of living: $18,341.07

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 42.2%
• Median list price: $315,857.40
• Annual cost of living: $20,124.17

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 35.4%
• Median list price: $322,847.78
• Annual cost of living: $19,812.13

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 85.7%
• Median list price: $394,427.95
• Annual cost of living: $18,838.02

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 52.9%
• Median list price: $698,637.47
• Annual cost of living: $20,963.04

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 32.7%
• Median list price: $332,883.26
• Annual cost of living: $19,079.62

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 57.1%
• Median list price: $1,482,916.42
• Annual cost of living: $20,805.26

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 50.7%
• Median list price: $572,062.23
• Annual cost of living: $21,907.23

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 34.8%
• Median list price: $357,285.47
• Annual cost of living: $19,369.71

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 38.6%
• Median list price: $292,521.91
• Annual cost of living: $19,327.46

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 50.4%
• Median list price: $432,972.84
• Annual cost of living: $19,329.48

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 51.6%
• Median list price: $333,111.89
• Annual cost of living: $19,907.13

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 80.0%
• Median list price: $315,907.86
• Annual cost of living: $17,886.64

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 61.0%
• Median list price: $496,540.50
• Annual cost of living: $19,923.98

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 28.8%
• Median list price: $470,498.64
• Annual cost of living: $19,460.64

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 31.7%
• Median list price: $322,770.01
• Annual cost of living: $18,334.09

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 57.5%
• Median list price: $405,112.35
• Annual cost of living: $19,863.94

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 31.7%
• Median list price: $538,817.22
• Annual cost of living: $19,679.25

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 39.5%
• Median list price: $499,175.48
• Annual cost of living: $20,308.87

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 29.5%
• Median list price: $650,060.51
• Annual cost of living: $19,788.72

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 68.0%
• Median list price: $353,368.79
• Annual cost of living: $19,659.58

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 30.7%
• Median list price: $296,232.01
• Annual cost of living: $21,011.87

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 63.3%
• Median list price: $289,418.19
• Annual cost of living: $18,838.39

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 85.7%
• Median list price: $418,926.15
• Annual cost of living: $19,628.82

Of course, attractive retirement destinations can be a double-edged sword. High costs and high taxes are bound to eat away at your nest egg quickly, especially if you have to spend a large chunk of it to buy your new home.

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 28.9%
• Median list price: $3,835,224
• Annual cost of living: $19,394.73

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 29.6%
• Median list price: $1,435,836
• Annual cost of living: $22,507.98

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 27.6%
• Median list price: $387,998
• Annual cost of living: $18,849.45

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 28.5%
• Median list price: $698,345
• Annual cost of living: $18,286.36

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 28.7%
• Median list price: $513,270
• Annual cost of living: $22,340.27

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 32.4%
• Median list price: $1,055,350
• Annual cost of living: $18,735.04

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 33.5%
• Median list price: $381,586
• Annual cost of living: $22,818.57

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 28.5%
• Median list price: $948,862
• Annual cost of living: $20,332.68

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 30.0%
• Median list price: $3,020,040
• Annual cost of living: $19,425.69

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 36.6%
• Median list price: $606,348
• Annual cost of living: $17,129.11

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 32.6%
• Median list price: $1,017,937
• Annual cost of living: $21,437.69

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 35.9%
• Median list price: $637,237
• Annual cost of living: $18,568.95

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 50.%
• Median list price: $1,099,770
• Annual cost of living: $18,502.58

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 29.1%
• Median list price: $311,893
• Annual cost of living: $22,635.41

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 41.6%
• Median list price: $1,449,290
• Annual cost of living: $19,040.06

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 29.1%
• Median list price: $773,457
• Annual cost of living: $18,469.52

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 34.2%
• Median list price: $1,193.688
• Annual cost of living: $20,389.00

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 28.3%
• Median list price: $396,797
• Annual cost of living: $18,652.52

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 27.9%
• Median list price: $767,494
• Annual cost of living: $23,739.56

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 37.6%
• Median list price: $425,692
• Annual cost of living: $20,398.56

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 34.0%
• Median list price: $474,408
• Annual cost of living: $22,890.65

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 28.5%
• Median list price: $445,271
• Annual cost of living: $22,743.37

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 39.9%
• Median list price: $597,374
• Annual cost of living: $22,880.41

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 28.8%
• Median list price: $471,326
• Annual cost of living: $22,893.05

*Pictured: Prescott, Arizona

• Percentage of the population 65 and older: 30.3%
• Median list price: $452,066
• Annual cost of living: $23,550.68

Jake Arky contributed to this article.

Methodology: GOBankingRates found the 50 Best (And Worst) Retirement towns in America by analyzing the top 100 towns with a population between 10,000 and 100,000, that also had the (1) highest percentage of its population aged 65 years and older, as sourced from the United states census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey 5-year estimates. GOBankingRates then analyzed those 100 cities across the following factors: (2) violent and property crimes per 1,000 residents in the given city, sourced from NeighborhoodScout; (3) the home value average for 2023 as sourced from Zillow’s May 2023 data; GOBankingRates then took the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2021 Consumer Expenditure Survey’s annual expenditures for a consumer unit 65 years and older in terms of Grocery (“food at home”), Healthcare, Utilities (“Utilities, fuels and public services”), and Transportation (gas, other fuels & motor oils” + “other vehicle expenses”). These annual expenditures were then factored out for each city using Sperling’s Best Places Cost of Living Indices and combined to give a (4) total annual Cost of Living Expenditure for each city; (5) Taxes on Social Security Benefits (Y/N) sourced from AARP; (6) Taxes on Retirement income (Y/N) sourced from Forbes; (7) the annual cost of an adult day health care service, available on the state level; (8) the annual cost of Homemaker services, available on the state level; and (9) the annual cost of a Home Health aide, available on the state level, all sourced from Genworth’s 2021 Cost of Care Survey. These 9 factors were then scored, with a lower score being better, and once each category was scored, all the scores were added together to determine the best (and worst) towns in America for retirees. All research was conducted and up to date on May 13, 2024.