Florida Takes Top Spots in Retirement Friendliness

Art by Lauren TamakiNo surprise, cities in Arizona and Florida top out among the best for retirement-friendliness. The worst? According to WalletHub’s rankings, those are in New York and New Jersey.

The report compared the retirement-friendliness of the 150 largest U.S. cities across 24 metrics such as cost of living, percentage of the population that is elderly, access to health care and availability of recreational activities.

Anchorage, Alaska, has the highest percentage of people over age 65 who are employed. Other good bets for employment post-retirement age are Washington, D.C., and Lincoln, Nebraska. The lowest percentage is in Brownsville, Texas. Nonetheless, Brownsville gets high ratings for the cheapest in-home care, as do Shreveport, Louisiana, and Montgomery, Alabama. The highest costs for in-home care are found in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, and San Francisco.

Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, have the greatest number of recreational and senior centers per capita. New York City, along with Toledo, Ohio, and Boise, Idaho, have the fewest recreational and senior centers per capita.

California takes top spots for best mild weather in Glendale, Riverside and Bakersfield. Providence, Rhode Island, and Boston get called out for worst weather, as does Indianapolis.

If percentage of the population ages 65 and up is important, consider Scottsdale, Arizona, and Hialeah, Florida. Cities with the lowest percentage of seniors include Santa Ana, California, and Aurora, Illinois. —Jill Cornfield