Our new list includes places from 20 states in all four domestic time zones. Georgia boasts three picks, while Arizona, Pennsylvania and Virginia have two each. The distribution is relatively divided between colder and warmer climates. In fact, the northernmost choice, Fargo, N.D., is the only city on this Forbes list for all 13 years of its existence.
Pittsburgh, which also has cold winters, is another of our perennial favorites—on the list for 11 of 13 years and for the sixth year in a row, despite its above average crime rate. It remains one of the most affordable cities on the East Coast, with an abundance of universities providing cultural and learning opportunities and first-rate medical care.
Besides costs and taxes, our selection process takes into account such metrics as air quality, crime and the availability of primary care doctors, as well as whether a place encourages an active lifestyle by making biking or walking convenient. There’s growing evidence that such quality-of-life factors affect health and longevity in retirement. About one third of the picks on our list are college towns, which tend to offer rich amenities for their size, including lifelong learning, culture and dining—all at an affordable cost. (If money is no object, check out our latest list of the 25 Best Places To Enjoy Your Retirement, which includes meccas for everything from sailing, golf and skiing to theater, restaurants and learning.)
For the fourth year, we consider climate change and natural hazard risks—hurricanes are a big reason why retiree magnet Florida only has one pick (Jacksonville) on our list. The Villages, a central Florida retirement community that made our last two annual lists, dropped off due to its rising home prices—its median price is now $416,000.
Jackie and Carmine Frascas’ house in Palmdale sat just two miles from the San Andreas Fault, the country’s most infamous earthquake hazard. But that’s not why they left. Instead, they were looking for lower costs and a gated community. They started their relocation research on the web, searching exclusively for warm places—they even considered Costa Rica, a popular destination for expatriate Yankees. But they kept coming back to San Antonio, the 7th largest city in the U.S., known for its downtown River Walk and Latino culture. They visited last May and a real estate agent they’d found online, Trudy Scott of Coldwell Banker D’Ann Harper Realtors, showed them the Del Webb/PulteGroup 55+ development they settled on. In the end, the Fracases happily swapped the private backyard pool they had in Palmdale for a lushly landscaped community pool. “It’s a good place to meet people,” Jackie says.
You can read more about more about our methodology and sources after the list and more about San Antonio here.
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