9 Midwestern Cities To Retire on $2,250 a Month

If you’re close to retirement and wondering where to find to a town to spend these years — where your cost of living will match your fixed income — look to the Midwest. States like Michigan, Indiana and Illinois have towns with a remarkably low cost of living.

As of February 2024, the average Social Security monthly benefit is $1,767.03, according to the Social Security Administration. However, the average rent for an apartment in the U.S. is $1,702, according to RentCafe. Therefore, the importance of choosing your retirement city wisely cannot be emphasized enough.

Of course, rent isn’t the only monthly expenditure you’ll incur. The average cost of groceries in the U.S. is $9,343 per year — $778.58 monthly — and then you have an average of $13,493 per person in annual healthcare costs — $1,124.42 monthly. Considering all this, you seriously need to live in a city that’s easy on your bank account.

Keep reading to see which cities made our list.

• Monthly Total Cost: $2,237
• Livability: 74

Alexandria, Minnesota has the highest rent on this list at $995 a month, with additional monthly expenditures totaling $1,242. But overall, it’s a fairly cheap city to live in, with costs coming in under $2,250 per month.

• Monthly Total Cost: $2,202
• Livability: 70

Carbondale is a great place to retire — and sports the cheapest average rent of any other city: $614. Though rent is cheap, monthly expenditures are not. Retirees planning to live out their golden years here can expect to pay $1,588 total on non-rent expenditures.

• Monthly Total Cost: $2,211
• Livability: 73

Fort Dodge promises a pretty decent livability score of 73 and monthly expenditures of $1,467. Rent in this relatively small city averages $744, which is definitely on the lower end of the spectrum.

• Monthly Total Cost: $2,124
• Livability: 70

New Castle holds the lowest livability score on this list at 70, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad place to spend your retirement. — especially not if you’re trying to majorly cut down on expenses. Here, rent will cost you, on average, $788. Aside from rent, expect to dish out $1,337 on monthly expenditures.

• Monthly Total Cost: $2,194
• Livability: 76

Big Rapids has one of the highest livability scores on this list, and expenses in this charming city aren’t too steep, either. Monthly rent averages $917, while monthly expenditures are $1,277, and that is distinctly on the lower end of the spectrum.

• Monthly Total Cost: $2,240
• Livability: 82

Based on its high livability score of 82, Mount Pleasant appears to be aptly named. And the cost of living isn’t bad, at all: On average, rent is $912, and other monthly expenditures will set you back $1,328, which is far from an extravagant price.

• Monthly Total Cost: $2,142
• Livability: 77

Relocating to Boone, Iowa could be a smart move for retirees. Rent here weighs in, on average, at $710 — which is impressively cheap. But other monthly expenditures will set you $1,432.

• Monthly Total Cost: $2,016
• Livability: 71

For just $623 a month, on average, you could settle in Vienna, Michigan to live out your golden years. But be mindful that over all, this isn’t the cheapest city — though it is pretty close! Monthly expenditures total $1,392.

• Monthly Total Cost: $2,071
• Livability: 81

Living in Richmond, Indiana will cost you $792 per month in rent — less than the national average. Monthly expenditures weigh in at $1,278, which is a steal.

Jordan Rosenfeld and Jennifer Taylor contributed to the reporting for this article.

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed cities across the Midwest to find the best places to retire on $2,250 a month. GOBankingRates started by determining the midwestern states as: IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD and WI. GOBankingRates used the [1] Zillow Observed Rental Index to find the average rent cost for each city within those midwestern states. For each city that has an average rent cost, GOBankingRates found the cost of living indexes across: [2] Grocery cost of living index, [3] Healthcare cost of living index, [4] Utilities cost of living index, [5] Transportation cost of living index and [6] Miscellaneous cost of living index, all sourced from Sperlings BestPlaces, and using the [7] Average expenditure costs for someone aged 65 or older, sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, the average cost of living for each city was calculated for someone aged 65 or higher. Adding the cost of living average to the average rent cost gives an average total cost to live in each city during retirement. To qualify for this study, the total cost of living had to cost at most $2,250. Higher-cost locations were removed, and for all remaining locations, the livability index was sourced from AreaVibes. All locations with a livability index below 70 were removed, as they represent places with below average qualities of life. The average expenditure cost was scored, the average rent cost was scored and the livability index was scored, with all three scores being combined and sorted to show the best places for someone to retire in the Midwest on $2,250 a month. All data was collected and is up to date as of Feb. 5, 2024.

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.