10 Best North Carolina Cities To Retire on $3K or Less Per Month

There’s some good news ahead for seniors that will be on a fixed income in retirement. A monthly budget of $3,000 or less allows you to afford a comfortable lifestyle in 10 cities across North Carolina.

GOBankingRates was able to determine the best North Carolina cities on a monthly retirement budget by analyzing the top North Carolina cities with a monthly rent of $2,000 or less as sourced from Zillow’s January 2025 data. Monthly housing, grocery, healthcare and utilities costs (sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2023 Consumer Expenditure Survey) were then added up to find which North Carolina cities a person aged 65 and older could survive on $3,000 or less.

From cities where retirees pay the most to least in monthly expenses, consider retiring in these 10 North Carolina cities.

• Average rent (January 2025): $1,545
• Livability: 71
• Average monthly grocery cost: $394.11
• Average monthly healthcare cost: $679.62
• Average monthly utilities cost: $361.43
• Average monthly expenditures cost: $2,980.58

• Average rent (January 2025): $1,379
• Livability: 70
• Average monthly grocery cost: $396.18
• Average monthly healthcare cost: $851.53
• Average monthly utilities cost: $348.15
• Average monthly expenditures cost: $2,974.63

• Average rent (January 2025): $1,410
• Livability: 73
• Average monthly grocery cost: $389.55
• Average monthly healthcare cost: $767.92
• Average monthly utilities cost: $353.17
• Average monthly expenditures cost: $2,920.65

• Average rent (January 2025): $1,450
• Livability: 83
• Average monthly grocery cost: $397.01
• Average monthly healthcare cost: $622.76
• Average monthly utilities cost: $342.77
• Average monthly expenditures cost: $2,812.96

• Average rent (January 2025): $1,253
• Livability: 72
• Average monthly grocery cost: $395.77
• Average monthly healthcare cost: $804.71
• Average monthly utilities cost: $350.66
• Average monthly expenditures cost: $2,804.58

• Average rent (January 2025): $1,422
• Livability: 76
• Average monthly grocery cost: $391.62
• Average monthly healthcare cost: $622.76
• Average monthly utilities cost: $354.25
• Average monthly expenditures cost: $2,790.52

• Average rent (January 2025): $1,296
• Livability: 71
• Average monthly grocery cost: $387.07
• Average monthly healthcare cost: $704.37
• Average monthly utilities cost: $367.53
• Average monthly expenditures cost: $2,755.08

• Average rent (January 2025): $1,320
• Livability: 71
• Average monthly grocery cost: $393.70
• Average monthly healthcare cost: $670.25
• Average monthly utilities cost: $358.56
• Average monthly expenditures cost: $2,742.22

• Average rent (January 2025): $1,267
• Livability: 79
• Average monthly grocery cost: $391.21
• Average monthly healthcare cost: $663.57
• Average monthly utilities cost: $346
• Average monthly expenditures cost: $2,667.55

• Average rent (January 2025): $959
• Livability: 72
• Average monthly grocery cost: $388.72
• Average monthly healthcare cost: $634.80
• Average monthly utilities cost: $357.84
• Average monthly expenditures cost: $2,340.53

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates found the best North Carolina cities to retire on a budget of $3,000 dollars or less. GOBankingRates used Zillow January 2025 data to find every city in North Carolina that has an (1) January 2025 monthly rent of $2,000 dollars or less. GOBankingRates then used Sperling’s BestPlaces to find the cost-of-living index for every city on the list, looking at (2) grocery, (3) healthcare and (4) utilities index scores. Next, GOBankingRates used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2023 Consumer Expenditure Survey to find the annual expenditure amount for grocery (“food at home”), healthcare and utilities (“Utilities, fuels, and public services”) costs for people aged 65 and older in order to find how much a person 65 and over would spend on groceries, healthcare, and utilities 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 $3,000 or less. In order for a city to be qualified for the study, it had to have a livability score of 70 or higher as sourced from AreaVibes and be one of the 1,500 largest housing markets according to Zillow. All data was collected on and up to date as of March 10, 2025.

Photo disclaimer: Photos are for illustrative purposes only. In many cases, the closest major city outside of the city/county mentioned in the article was used.