7 Best Places in New England for a Couple To Live Only on Social Security

The states along the coastlines, both in the East and West, long have been known as the most expensive places to live in the United States.

If you’re a retired couple with only Social Security benefits who want to live in New England, it is possible to find an affordable place to live, although your choices are limited to two states. A GOBankingRates study identified seven cities where retirees could squeeze their living expenses into the average monthly Social Security income of $3,584.74 per couple.

The study looked at how much the average rent is for a one-bedroom apartment and how much you’ll pay each month for groceries, healthcare, utilities and transportation. Read on to find out which New England cities are the cheapest for retired couples living on Social Security.

• Livability Score: 74
• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,788
• Monthly Grocery Cost per Couple: $425
• Monthly Healthcare Cost per Couple: $557
• Monthly Utilities Cost per Couple: $388
• Monthly Transportation Cost per Couple: $389
• Monthly Necessities Cost per Couple: $3,547

One of just two Massachusetts cities to rank in the study, Taunton has the highest housing and grocery costs. On the flip side, healthcare and utilities cost the least for residents of Taunton, which is closer to Providence, Rhode Island, than it is to Boston.

• Livability Score: 74
• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,529
• Monthly Grocery Cost per Couple: $412
• Monthly Healthcare Cost per Couple: $716
• Monthly Utilities Cost per Couple: $424
• Monthly Transportation Cost per Couple: $463
• Monthly Necessities Cost per Couple: $3,545

Connecticut dominates the results of the study, with Hartford the first of five places where retiring on Social Security is possible.

Hartford, known as the “Insurance Capital of the World” because of the number of insurance companies based there, also has been the home of a variety of famous people. They include author Mark Twain, whose life is celebrated in a museum there, financier J.P. Morgan and actress Katharine Hepburn. If you choose to live in Hartford, you’ll pay the most in transportation costs.

• Livability Score: 73
• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,609
• Monthly Grocery Cost per Couple: $414
• Monthly Healthcare Cost per Couple: $574
• Monthly Utilities Cost per Couple: $397
• Monthly Transportation Cost per Couple: $385
• Monthly Necessities Cost per Couple: $3,379

Springfield has the second-highest housing cost in the study, and as with Taunton, healthcare, utilities and transportation have costs on the lower side of cities in the study. In their free time, retirees can visit the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame or the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden.

• Livability Score: 71
• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,348
• Monthly Grocery Cost per Couple: $414
• Monthly Healthcare Cost per Couple: $716
• Monthly Utilities Cost per Couple: $421
• Monthly Transportation Cost per Couple: $415
• Monthly Necessities Cost per Couple: $3,315

New Britain, about 12 miles south of Hartford, is the least expensive city in terms of monthly necessities in the study. Still, its expenses are above the national average in every category, and its livability score of 71 is the lowest in the study, keeping New Britain from ranking higher in the study.

• Livability Score: 78
• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,465
• Monthly Grocery Cost per Couple: $419
• Monthly Healthcare Cost per Couple: $716
• Monthly Utilities Cost per Couple: $420
• Monthly Transportation Cost per Couple: $432
• Monthly Necessities Cost per Couple: $3,452

If Bristol sounds familiar and you’re not sure why, think sports. The city is the headquarters of ESPN, and thousands of hours of sports programming are beamed each year from the massive, 1.2-million-square-foot campus. Bristol ranks second in the study for livability at 78, but you’ll pay above the national average for each of the necessities.

• Livability Score: 76
• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,289
• Monthly Grocery Cost per Couple: $409
• Monthly Healthcare Cost per Couple: $757
• Monthly Utilities Cost per Couple: $428
• Monthly Transportation Cost per Couple: $447
• Monthly Necessities Cost per Couple: $3,330

Waterbury got its name for its location near a number of waterways, and it sits along the Naugatuck River. But it’s primarily known for something else: Brass City, as Waterbury has been called, once was “the center of the American brass industry,” according to ConnecticutHistory.org. In Waterbury, you’ll pay the least for rent and groceries, but the most for healthcare and utilities.

• Livability Score: 81
• 2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,433
• Monthly Grocery Cost per Couple: $416
• Monthly Healthcare Cost per Couple: $757
• Monthly Utilities Cost per Couple: $395
• Monthly Transportation Cost per Couple: $380
• Monthly Necessities Cost per Couple: $3,381

If you yearn for an occasional trip to the big city, Meriden sits roughly halfway between Boston and New York, about two hours for both. And if you’re a retiree who likes to spend time outdoors, Meriden has plenty to do. Start by exploring historic Hubbard Park, an 1,800-acre open space that the city says is the largest municipal park in New England. With a livability score of 81, the highest in the study, Meriden moved to the top of the list, helped by its having the lowest transportation costs.

Methodology: GOBankingRates determined the best cities in New England (ME, NH, VT, RI, CT and MA) where a couple could live on just Social Security earnings each month. GOBankingRates first isolated all cities in New England with a 2023 average monthly rent under $2,000 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 a couple 65 and older could survive on $3,584 a month (the average Social Security check for retirees, doubled). 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 the 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. 27, 2023.