Florida is fantastic, New Jersey not so much—at least when it comes to retirement.
With retirement-age Americans at greater risk for COVID-19 and only 24 percent of workers reporting that they are “very confident” they will have enough money for retirement, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2020’s Best & Worst Places to Retire.
To help Americans plan for a comfortable retirement without breaking the bank, WalletHub compared more than 180 U.S. cities across 46 key measures of affordability, quality of life, health care, and availability of recreational activities.
The data set ranges from the cost of living to retired taxpayer-friendliness to the state’s health infrastructure.
Best cities to retire
- Orlando, FL
- Tampa, FL
- Charleston, SC
- Miami, FL
- Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Scottsdale, AZ
- Casper, WY
- Minneapolis, MN
- Jackson, MS
- Denver, CO
Worst cities to retire
- Wichita, KS
- Detroit, MI
- Jersey City, NJ
- Pearl City, HI
- Baltimore, MD
- San Bernardino, CA
- Warwick, RI
- Bridgeport, CT
- Stockton, CA
- Newark, NJ
Best vs. worst
Scottsdale, Arizona, has the highest share of the population aged 65 and older, 23.40 percent, which is 3.2 times higher than in Fontana, California, the city with the lowest at 7.30 percent.
Brownsville, Texas, has the lowest adjusted cost-of-living index for retirees, 75.78, which is 2.6 times lower than in San Francisco, the city with the highest at 195.86.
Columbia, Maryland, has the highest share of workers aged 65 and older, 25.43 percent, which is 2.5 times higher than in Detroit, the city with the lowest at 10.05 percent.
St. Louis has the most home health care facilities (per 100,000 residents), 57.18, which is 29.9 times more than in Fontana, California, the city with the fewest at 1.91.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
