4 Best West Coast Cities To Retire on a Budget of $3,200 a Month

If you’ve got West Coast dreams but only $3,200 to spread across any given 30-day period, your options are almost non-existent — almost.

Although life is more expensive adjacent to the Pacific Ocean than in almost any other place on Earth, there are still a handful of West Coast cities where you can retire with just 32 $100 bills per month.

In fact, there are four that stand out for a variety of reasons, particularly if you are on a fixed income. The following cities are the best on the entire West Coast to retire on $3,200 a month.

• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,466
• Livability Score: 68
• Monthly Necessities Expenditures: $3,108

Moving to Grants Pass, Oregon is a great choice if you are hoping to drastically reduce your energy and water bills. Residents typically pay $3,707 each year — breaking down to $309 per month — on utilities costs, which is less than the U.S. average of $4,236 annually — or $353 monthly — for the same home services.

For those who are looking to get out and about, expect to pay $294 each month in Grants Pass for your transportation costs.

• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,624
• Livability Score: 79
• Monthly Necessities Expenditures: $3,198

Kennewick is the first of three cities in Washington that are affordable places to live, especially when you are on a fixed income and require additional healthcare. Kennewick annual healthcare costs total up to $6,522, more than $1,000 below the U.S. average of $7,540. That comes out to $544 per month, a significant price difference from the $628 average found across the nation.

Kennewick’s 79 livability score makes it the second highest-rated West Coast city to live in on this list.

• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,512
• Livability Score: 80
• Monthly Necessities Expenditures: $3,089

Coming in at No. 2 is Spokane, Washington, where the annual grocery cost is $4,739, just below the U.S. average of $4,797 each year. Healthcare costs $531 per month, or $6,371 per year, and annual transportation is priced out at $4,503 for those who are 65 years of age or older.

Of all the cities ranked on this list, Spokane has the most “big city” feel for those seeking a slightly more metropolitan retirement destination.

• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,271
• Livability Score: 78
• Monthly Necessities Expenditures: $2,853

Holding down the top ranking is Yakima, Washington, where you’ll find the lowest average monthly rent coming to $1,272, beating out the U.S. average of $2,019 per month. While the livability rating is slightly below some of the other cities on the list, the healthcare cost of living index clocks in at 86.9, with an annual price tag of $6,552 for a year’s worth of medical expenses.

Andrew Lisa contributed to the reporting for this article.

Methodology: GOBankingRates determined the best cities on the West Coast (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington) to retire for $3,200 or less a month. GOBankingRates first isolated all cities on the West Coast with a 2023 average monthly rent under $1,900 and a size rank below 1,000. GOBankingRates then used Sperling’s BestPlaces to find the cost of living index for each listed city, looking at grocery, utilities, transportation and healthcare index scores. Next, GOBankingRates used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2022 Consumer Expenditure Survey to find the annual expenditure amount for grocery (“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 one could retire for $3,200 a month or less. In order for a city to be qualified for the study, the city had to have a livability score above 65, as sourced from AreaVibes. GOBankingRates scored and combined both livability and monthly necessities expenditures, with the lowest score being best, to determine final rankings. All data was collected and is up to date as of Sept. 14, 2023.