Takeaways
- Deciding where to retire is a major decision that affects finances, health, and quality of life. Millions of Americans are approaching retirement soon, and many are choosing to move to a new location.
- Many free online tools can help simplify the choice by providing valuable data and comparisons.
- Websites like WalletHub, AARP, and U.S. News & World Report publish annual rankings of the best places (states and cities) to retire, based on factors like affordability, quality of life, and health care.
- Budgeting tools from the Economic Policy Institute and the Social Security Administration help estimate living costs and guaranteed income (Social Security benefits). A HealthCare.gov calculator can also help estimate pre-Medicare health insurance costs.
- Resources like BestPlaces.net, Niche.com, and Walk Score allow retirees to compare specific locations based on personal factors like climate, cost of living, accessibility, and community engagement.
Over 4 million U.S. adults are expected to reach age 65 in 2026. For those planning to retire in the coming years, location matters. Your place of retirement can affect your budget and living expenses, health, and quality of life.
Retirees often seek out better weather, more affordable living, or proximity to family. According to AARP, approximately 266,000 older Americans moved for retirement in 2024.
While Florida remains a popular retirement destination, other, less traditional locations like Massachusetts and Illinois are increasingly drawing seniors. In fact, AARP found that Massachusetts was slightly more popular than the Sunshine State for seniors moving for retirement.
With many locations in the United States offering different climates, more affordable living, and community engagement, it can be challenging to decide where to retire.
Online Tools
Many free online tools can be a good starting point for researching possible retirement locations and helping you to reflect on your preferences or needs.
Rankings
WalletHub’s annual ranking of Best and Worst States to Retire can help you evaluate where retirement may be most financially and practically comfortable. View all 50 states by overall rankings as well as by dozens of individual rankings for affordability, quality of life, and health care. For 2026, WalletHub named Wyoming, Florida, and South Dakota as the top-ranked states for retirees.
AARP’s Top 100 Places to Live for Older Adults also highlights cities and towns with qualities that older adults value. These rankings consider housing costs and options, neighborhoods, transportation, environmental considerations, health care, community engagement, and available opportunities. With several lists grouped by community size, older adults can compare similar communities.
U.S. News & World Report publishes a comprehensive retirement location index that ranks more than 850 U.S. cities based on different criteria, such as quality of life and tax-friendliness. Midland, Michigan – a city of about 40,000 people – earned the top spot in 2026 according to U.S. News & World Report, thanks to such factors as relatively low median home prices compared with the national average.
Budgeting
Financial considerations also play an important role in retirement planning, as many retirees need to ensure they remain financially secure while relying on a limited or fixed income. When deciding where to retire, an area’s housing and living costs can determine whether a particular location is realistic.
Comparing local living costs with available retirement savings and projected income can help retirees evaluate whether a destination aligns with their long-term financial goals.
The following tools can help older adults assess their finances to see where they may be able to afford to retire.
The Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator estimates the average income a household needs to maintain a modest standard of living in a certain area. The calculator works for different family types, including typical retiree households with only one or two adults. It also separates housing and health care costs by year and by month, letting retirees see whether a city or state may fit within their projected retirement income.
The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) retirement estimator can help assess about how much your future monthly Social Security retirement benefit will be. The estimator takes your date of birth, annual earnings, and future retirement date to provide personalized insights to help you understand your guaranteed baseline income. The tool also has an option to view your benefit in inflated future dollars.
Many people retire before they qualify for Medicare at age 65 and therefore need to secure private health insurance coverage for several years. Health care expenses remain one of the largest costs retirees face. Fidelity Investments shows that a couple retiring today at age 65 will spend an average of $330,000 on health care in retirement.
If you are not yet enrolled in Medicare but want to estimate health insurance costs based on location in the years before you become eligible, the HealthCare.gov Marketplace Calculator can help. It estimates how much a person or household might pay for monthly premiums, in a specific ZIP code, through the HealthCare.gov marketplace under the Affordable Care Act.
Note that it does not address most retirement health care spending, such as Medicare premiums, prescription drug coverage under Medicare Part D, or long-term care expenses. Someone retiring at age 60, for example, might use the calculator to estimate five years of coverage costs before enrolling in Medicare.
Personal Preferences and Comparisons
Other online tools can help you explore your personal lifestyle preferences, compare options, and narrow your research to specific communities.
BestPlaces.net provides information to help people research towns, cities, and areas across the United States. You can select places to compare them by dimensions like cost of living, climate, and safety.
The Best Places quiz asks questions about the type of environment you prefer in terms of such factors as climate, population size, and proximity to cultural activities and then offers suggestions for where to live based on your desired lifestyle. It may be most useful early in your decision process, when you are still exploring possibilities before moving on to use some of the more analytical tools outlined above.
Once you have some potential retirement locations in mind, it can be helpful to do more research on a particular area or areas that interest you. One source of information is Niche.com. In addition to its annual list of best places to retire in America, the website has detailed information on searchable cities and towns. The tool assigns letter grades to locations and also grades them in specific areas, including housing costs, safety, diversity, and percentage of residents over age 65.
Retirees who have a mobility impairment or who plan to rely on public transportation should consider evaluating an area’s level of accessibility. Walk Score is best known for scoring an area’s walkability, which can be an important consideration for those who do not drive or want to avoid relying heavily on a car.
Although not focused specifically on retirement, Walk Score’s data on neighborhood accessibility can be relevant for people planning for their later years. The resource also scores places on transit options and bike-friendliness, which can factor into the accessibility of an area.
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