The Best Cities to Retire in 2026
“A WalletHub study ranked 182 U.S. cities across affordability, activities, quality of life, and health care. Florida dominated, with Orlando, Miami, and Tampa taking the top three spots. Scottsdale and Casper followed. Stockton ranked last, while New York City was least affordable.
A study compared data across 45 metrics to find the best cities for senior living.
Florida emerged as the best state for retirees last year, according to a study by the personal finance platform WalletHub, and this year a similar study drilled down to the local level, pitting the 182 largest U.S. cities against one another. Four categories of data contributed equally to the final ranking: affordability, activities, quality of life and health care. Sources included the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and WalletHub’s own research.
Once again, Florida was found attractive by retirees, with Orlando benefiting from the state’s favorable tax policies and handily ranking second for affordability, according to WalletHub. In fact, the three top retirement cities were all in Florida, and four made it into the top 10.
Ranked second and third, Miami and Tampa piggybacked on the state’s financial advantages for retirees, according to Chip Lupo, a WalletHub analyst. (With no state income tax, residents keep a larger chunk of their Social Security check and other retirement income. There are also no inheritance or estate taxes.) Orlando’s access to “very affordable” in-home health and adult day care services edged out the other two cities, Mr. Lupo explained. Overall, the city fared well in the health care category, offering older residents plenty of options for specialized care through gerontologists, quality geriatric hospitals and home health care facilities. A central geographic location helped, too, making it more weather-friendly than hurricane-prone Gulf Coast cities, Mr. Lupo continued.
Mild-weathered Scottsdale, Ariz., a city with the best quality of life and the second-highest share of people 65 and over, finished fourth overall — despite scoring 114th for affordability. Next was Casper, Wyo., cited as one of the cheapest cities to live in.
Among the five worst places to retire, four were in California: Stockton, Calif., came in last. New York City was least affordable.
“A lot of people do live on fixed incomes and don’t have a whole lot of flexibility,” Mr. Lupo said. “In that case, you may want to settle for maybe not one of the worst, but somewhere middle of the road, a place like Knoxville, Tenn., or Columbia, S.C.”
Best and worst cities for retirement
The 10 best cities for retirement and the categories in which they scored highest, and the 10 worst cities and the categories in which they scored lowest.
Affordability, health care
Stockton, Calif.
Activities, health care
Miami
Activities, health care
San Bernardino, Calif.
Health care, quality of life
Tampa, Fla.
Activities, quality of life
Newark
Quality of life, affordability
Fresno, Calif.
Activities, health care
Scottsdale, Ariz.
Quality of life, activities
Casper, Wyo.
Affordability, quality of life
Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Activities, affordability
Atlanta
Activities, health care
Bakersfield, Calif.
Health care, activities
Minneapolis
Activities, health care
Tacoma, Wash.
Affordability, quality of life
Bridgeport, Conn.
Affordability, activities
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Activities, health care
Detroit
Quality of life, health care
Charleston, S.C.
Activities, affordability
Pittsburgh
Health care, activities
Fontana, Calif.
Activities, affordability”
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