Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

Florida cities place first, second and third in 'Best Cities To Retire' study

With retirement confidence declining in 2017 and nearly four in 10 American workers having little or no money saved for their golden years, the personal-finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2017’s Best & Worst Places to Retire.

To help Americans plan for a comfortable retirement without breaking the bank, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 150 largest U.S. cities across 40 key measures of affordability, quality of life, health care and availability of recreational activities. The data set ranges from cost of living to retired taxpayer-friendliness to share of the 65 and older population.

Best Cities to Retire Worst Cities to Retire
1 Orlando, FL 141 Rancho Cucamonga, CA
2 Tampa, FL 142 Fontana, CA
3 Miami, FL 143 Modesto, CA
4 Scottsdale, AZ 144 Stockton, CA
5 Atlanta, GA 145 Fresno, CA
6 Salt Lake City, UT 146 Detroit, MI
7 Honolulu, HI 147 Worcester, MA
8 Denver, CO 148 San Bernardino, CA
9 Austin, TX 149 Providence, RI
10 Las Vegas, NV 150 Newark, NJ
Source: WalletHub


Best vs. Worst

  • Scottsdale, Arizona, has the highest share of the population aged 65 and older, 21.9 percent, which is 3.5 times higher than in Fontana, California, the city with the lowest at 6.2 percent.
  • Laredo, Texas, has the lowest adjusted cost-of-living index for retirees, 76.93, which is 2.6 times lower than in New York, the city with the highest at 196.26.
  • Laredo, Texas, has the lowest annual cost of in-home services, $20,592, which is 3.3 times lower than in Fremont, Oakland, and San Francisco, California, the cities with the highest at $68,640.
  • Plano, Texas, has the highest share of workers aged 65 and older, 23 percent, which is 2.6 times higher than in Detroit, the city with the lowest at 9 percent.
  • Miami has the most home health care facilities (per 100,000 residents), 40, which is 20 times more than in Aurora, Illinois, the city with the fewest at two.
  • Yonkers, New York, has the fewest property crimes (per 1,000 residents), 10, which is 9.3 times fewer than in Salt Lake City, the city with the most at 93.

To view the full report and your city’s rank, please click here.