Retiring seniors may choose to relocate depending on the cost of living — and cost of care. Financial website WalletHub measured 40 key metrics in the 150 most populated U.S. cities across four dimensions — affordability, activities, quality of life and health care — to find which places were the best and worst for retirement.
In some cases, seniors may be pulled to living in a certain place for retirement or a long-term visit rather than living in a senior housing community or nursing home, according to one expert who spoke with WalletHub.
“Cruise ships, retirement communities (complete with medical staff and support), rival nursing homes in terms of cost, and providing much more enjoyment for seniors that fit the mold,” Ryan Teeter, clinical assistant professor of accounting information system in the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh, said in the report.
Here are the top 10 places to retire, according to WalletHub:
1. Orlando, Florida
2. Tampa, Florida
3. Miami, Florida
4. Scottsdale, Arizona
5. Atlanta, Georgia
6. Salt Lake City, Utah
7. Honolulu, Hawaii
8. Denver, Colorado
9. Austin, Texas
10. Las Vegas, Nevada
WalletHub looked at several health care factors in weighing U.S. cities, including the number of nurses per 1,000 residents and the number of health care facilities per capita.
Conversely, here are the top 10 worst places to retire on the list:
141. Rancho Cucamonga, California
142. Fontana, California
143. Modesto, California
144. Stockton, California
145. Fresno, California
146. Detroit, Michigan
147. Worcester, Massachusetts
148. San Bernardino, California
149. Providence, Rhode Island
150. Newark, New Jersey
Written by Amy Baxter