Florida Dominates Retirement Rankings
Florida continued to be a highly retirement-friendly state in 2024, featuring five locales in WalletHub's list of the 10 best retirement cities.
Orlando, situated in central Florida, claimed the overall first-place position in WalletHub's Best & Worst Places to Retire ranking this year. The personal finance website highlighted factors such as activity options and elder health care that contributed to Orlando earning the title of best city to retire. Florida's tax policies also played a significant role, according to WalletHub. The city's total score was 61.49.
Diverse Representation in Top 10
This year, five other states joined Florida in the top 10 rankings. The full list encompassed 182 U.S. cities, with WalletHub determining positions based on dozens of metrics across categories including affordability, activities, quality of life, and health care.
According to WalletHub, the 2024 top 10 locales most favorable for retirees emphasized minimizing taxes and expenses, offering opportunities for continued paid work, providing high-quality health care, and featuring enjoyable activities.
It’s important to choose wisely when picking where to retire, as many retirees are on a fixed income. As a result, the best cities for retired people are those that minimize taxes and expenses, as well as have good opportunities for retirees to continue paid work for extra income, if they choose to do so. In addition, the top cities provide high-quality health care and offer plenty of enjoyable activities for retirees.
Category Highlights and Broader Context
Among the top 10 best retirement cities, Miami achieved the highest rank in the main activities category, at No. 2. Two other top-10 cities secured No. 3 placements in different main categories: Scottsdale for quality of life and Casper for affordability, as determined by the personal finance website.
WalletHub's best cities to retire ranking follows its earlier identification of Florida, Colorado, Virginia, Delaware, and Wyoming as top states for retirement. In April, Northwestern Mutual reported that Americans believe they need $1.46 million set aside to retire comfortably, marking a 15% increase from the prior year.
