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The retirement crisis is real. Over half of Americans believe it’s not realistic for the average person to expect to retire comfortably. That means choosing the right location to retire is more important than ever.
To help determine the best places to retire, WalletHub recently compared the retirement-friendliness of 182 cities—including the 150 most populated U.S. cities, plus at least two of the most populated cities in each state—across four key dimensions: affordability, activities, quality of life and healthcare.
Orlando, Fla., unsurprisingly tops the list, living up to its reputation as a haven for seniors. The primary reason is affordability. Orlando is a relatively cheap and very tax-friendly city, and Florida famously levies no income, estate or inheritance taxes. This positive reputation among seniors also means that Orlando features strong infrastructure supporting that age group specifically, including recreational activities, in which it ranks 18th overall, and healthcare, where it ranks 14th.
There’s more to a great retirement destination than dollars and cents, however. Scottsdale, Ariz., and Minneapolis rank second and third, despite both cities faring quite poorly in terms of affordability (116th and 96th, respectively).
Scottsdale scored very highly because of its overall high quality of life, finishing No. 1 in that metric. It also features an abundance of activities popular with retirees, clocking in at 17th, one slot higher than Orlando.
Minneapolis outdoes both, coming in at 7th for recreation. Further, it has one of the most elderly-friendly labor markets in the country. Many retired people choose to continue to work for some extra income, or simply to have something to keep them occupied. There are plenty of opportunities to do that in Minneapolis, where 22% of the working population is over age 65.
On the other end of the spectrum, San Bernardino, Calif. brings up the rear, scoring poorly in basically all metrics, including truly abysmal ranks of 171st in quality of life and 174th in healthcare.
Here are the rest of the 10 best and worst cities for retirees in 2025.
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