This week U.S. News & World Report unveiled its 2021-2022 rankings of the “Best Places to Retire in the United States.” Once again, it’s largely dominated by one state you might expect, by another you might not expect—and almost totally omits the Western U.S. as not a single city west of the Mississippi River cracked the top 30.
Curiously, nearly three quarters (72%) of metro areas in the top 25 are located in Florida or Pennsylvania.
“After over a year of staying at home, many people are dreaming about a Florida beach retirement. Florida dominates this year’s ranking of the Best Places to Retire, taking eight of the top 10 spots on the list,” said Emily Brandon, U.S. News senior editor for retirement.
Pennsylvania metropolitan areas also had a strong showing at the top of the rankings. While Lancaster was the only Pennsylvania area to crack last year’s top 25, seven Pennsylvania areas placed this year—largely due to the accessibility of high-quality health care facilities, the study says. Among them, Lancaster held steady at No. 5, while Allentown catapulted 29 spots to take No. 11. How about that, Billy Joel?
This year, U.S. News added crime rates and air quality as factors that make up its “Happiness Index,” as they help measure how content residents are with important aspects of their daily lives—although it didn’t seem to help Western U.S. cities from climbing the rankings. Happiness is the most heavily weighted of the six factors in the 2021-2022 Best Places to Retire methodology, which also includes housing affordability, health care quality, retiree taxes, desirability and job market ratings.
These measures were weighted based on a public survey of individuals across the U.S. who are nearing retirement age (ages 45-59) and those who are of retirement age (60 or older) to find out what matters most when considering where to retire. Data sources include the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Sharecare Community Well-Being Index, as well as U.S. News rankings of the Best Hospitals.
“Deciding where to live is an important retirement decision,” Brandon said. “When comparing potential places to retire, look for affordable housing, proximity to health care services and a strong economy, especially if you plan to work part-time.”
Sarasota stays atop rankings
Despite decreases in health care, housing and happiness scores, Sarasota, Fla., earned the No. 1 spot in the rankings for the second year in a row due to increases in desirability, retiree tax and job market scores. Of the eight Florida cities in the top 10, none were inland—and Tampa was the only one of state’s largest cities to crack the top 10. Orlando ranked 18th, Jacksonville 26th, as Miami a distant 48th.
Behind Sarasota in the second spot overall was Naples, Fla. An increase in its Retiree Tax score helped the fellow Gulf Coast city jump two places from the previous rankings to No. 2—even with decreases in Health Care, Happiness and Housing Affordability scores.
Daytona Beach ranked third. It’s 12-spot jump is largely due to its good air quality and low crime rate—two factors that U.S. News used to calculate the rankings’ overall happiness scores for the first time this year.
Rounding out the top five were Melbourne, Fla., and the aforementioned Lancaster, Pa.
Tampa climbed 14 spots in the latest rankings to land at No. 6, followed by perennial top-10 finishers Fort Myers (which was top-ranked two years ago and second last year) and Port St. Lucie in the seventh and eighth spots. Ann Arbor, Mich., was one of only two non-Florida cities to make the top 10 in the ninth spot, and Pensacola launched 15 spots from the previous rankings to round out the top 10.
The second 10
Cities in Pennsylvania claimed half of spots 11-20 in the new “Best Places to Retire” rankings. Only three non-Florida or Pennsylvania cities made the top 20.
U.S. News & World Report “Best Places to Retire”
11. Allentown, Pa.
12. Lakeland, Fla.
13. Harrisburg, Pa.
14. Asheville, N.C.
15. Reading, Pa.
16. Ocala, Fla.
17. York, Pa.
18. Orlando, Fla.
19. Philadelphia, Pa.
20. Knoxville, Tenn.
Few western cities rank
Perhaps it should be called the “Eastern” U.S. News & World Report? The only cities west of the Mississippi River to even crack the top 40 were Eugene and Portland, Oregon, coming in at the No. 33 and 34 spots, respectively. You have to slide all the way down to the 50th spot for the next “western” city, which is Austin, Texas.
Somehow Anchorage, Alaska beats anywhere in California or Arizona for retirement in USN&WR’s rankings, coming in at 67. In fact, no city in California or Arizona ranked among the top 100 best places in the U.S. to retire (see the full rankings here).
But it should be noted that just as Florida claimed eight of the top 10 spots, California did dominate the bottom of the 150-city rankings with eight of the final 10 spots—a run from spot 142 (Vallejo & Fairfield) through 149 (Bakersfield).
San Juan, Puerto Rico was in the 150th spot.
SEE ALSO:
• ‘Best Places to Retire in the U.S.’ List has a New No. 1
• Best Cities for Retirees – Who Cares?
• Summer 2021’s Top International Retirement Havens
• 2021’s 5 Best & Worst States to Retire