New Forbes list of top 25 places largely dominated by affordable mid-sized college towns
Forbes compared more than 950 cities across the country to come up with its recently released 15th annual list of the Top 25 Cities for Retirees. As usual, cities making the list tend to share many things in common aside from being relatively affordable, such as being known as college towns and being fairly similar in size (major metropolitan areas largely absent).
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The Forbes list—notably not ranked from 1-25 but rather listed simply alphabetically—highlights “surprisingly affordable gems” offering a high quality of life in the U.S. at a comparatively affordable price, with housing costs being a major factor. Other key factors included taxes, healthcare, air quality, crime, and climate change and natural hazard risk.
Here are a few notable takeaways from the 2025 list.
19 states represented
Six states—Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and Virginia—had two cities make the top 25, while 19 states were included overall. No cities in California or New York made the list.
Two cold-winter locales continue to make the top 25. Fargo, North Dakota, is the only city appearing for all 15 years Forbes has compiled this list. Pittsburgh is another of perennial favorite, on the list for 13 of 15 years and for the eighth year in a row.
The Villages in Florida was the only specific retirement community to be included on the list, as well as being the only inclusion from the Sunshine State.
Greenville, S.C. gets the star treatment in the Forbes piece, with a median home price of just $317,000, 22% below the national median, contributing to an overall cost of living that’s 9% below average.
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