Proving retirement is more than sunshine and sangria, a recent list of best and worst cities to retire include a few, uh …surprises.
Among the high picks? Pittsburgh, Boston, and Minneapolis, to name a few.
The high-tax city of Providence in the high-tax state of Rhode Island rang in at No. 5, with its sizable tariff offset by great health care, low crime and good overall wellbeing for retirees.
“If you’re surprised to see them at the top of Bankrate’s ranking of best and worst cities for retirement, don’t be,” the consumer finance site notes. “Places that might offer seniors the best standard of living may look a lot different from our traditional sun-and-golf idea of retirement havens.
“We scored the 50 largest U.S. metro areas for their: health care quality; tax burdens; crime rates; living costs; weather; public transportation; cultural amenities (things to do); percentage of the population over 65; and the overall well-being of seniors, as measured by the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index.”
The top 10 are:
- Pittsburgh
- Boston
- Los Angeles
- Denver
- Providence
- Minneapolis
- Tamp-St. Petersburgh
- Phoenix
- Austin, Texas
- Dallas
Livability.com recently listed the top towns in which to retire, which had a notably different flare.
“Today’s seniors are in search of a lifestyle as diverse and dynamic as themselves,” Livability explained. While many folks will choose to remain where they’ve spent most of their lives and built their communities, others will look for new adventures in a different location—and deciding where that place will be is an extremely important choice.
The towns they named were:
- Walnut Creek, CA
- Reno, NV
- Boca Raton, FL
- Plano, TX
- Sioux Falls, SD
- Vancouver, WA
- Birmingham, AL
- Littleton, CO
- Bismarck, ND
- Salt Lake City, UT
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.
