Retirement is a goal that most workers look forward to for years, a highly-anticipated way to enjoy time with loved ones without having to worry about working a full time job. Deciding where you want to settle down and spend your retirement can be a difficult decision due to a variety of factors. Do you want to live somewhere warm, where the sun is out shining more often than not, or would you prefer to find yourself in a small town away from the hustle and bustle of big city life?
WalletHub looked at nearly 200 cities around the country, including the 150 most populated cities in the U.S., to determine which are the best and and which are the worst places to retire. As to be expected, Florida is a hub for retirees, with half of the cities in the Top 10 best places to retire located in the sunny state.
Among the list are two cities in South Carolina. Charleston found a place among the Top 20 best spots for retirees thanks to its high ranking in the activities category, while Columbia follows a short ways down the list at No. 28, earning high marks in the affordability category. Here are where the South Carolina cities fall on the list:
- No. 16: Charleston
- No. 28: Columbia
These are the 10 best places to retire, according to WalletHub:
- Orlando, Florida
- Miami, Florida
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Tampa, Florida
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Scottsdale, Arizona
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- St. Petersburg, Florida
- Casper, Wyoming
- Atlanta, Georgia
To determine the list, WalletHub compared 182 U.S. cities across four factors: affordability, activities, quality of life and health care. These factors were then evaluated using 45 relevant metrics, including adjusted cost of living, retired taxpayer-friendliness, annual cost of in-home services, recreation & senior centers per capita, availability of adult volunteer activities, public & municipal golf courses per capita, share of population age 65 & older, age-friendly community, mild weather, violent-crime rate, health care facilities per capita, home-care facilities per capita, life expectancy and more.
Check out the full report at WalletHub.com.