A report by WalletHub this week has exposed the top-ranked city for retirees in the U.S.
To figure out how different cities stacked up, researchers looked at four main factors: affordability, activities, quality of life and health care.
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“It’s important to choose wisely when picking where to retire, as many retirees are on a fixed income,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said. “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.”
Breaking things down, the four factors used in this study include the following metrics:
- Affordability: Cost of living, taxpayer-friendliness, cost of in-home services, and cost of adult day health care
- Activities: Recreation/senior centers, fishing facilities, golf courses, museums, theaters, art galleries, book clubs, music venues, bingo halls, and adult volunteer activities
- Quality of Life: Population aged 65+, elderly-friendly labor market, age-friendly community, mild weather, violent crime rate, property crime rate, air/water quality, and elder abuse protections
- Health Care: Death rate of seniors, life expectancy, home-care facilities, top-rated geriatric hospitals, health care facilities/workers, suicide rate for elders, and public hospital system quality
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the No. 1 city on the ranking can be found right here in the Sunshine State: Orlando.
"Orlando, FL, is the best place to retire, living up to its reputation as a haven for seniors. One big reason for this is the lack of taxes, as Orlando is one of the most tax-friendly cities, and Florida does not have an estate or inheritance tax (or even income tax). In addition, while Orlando doesn’t have a particularly low cost of living, it is the ninth-cheapest city for homemaker services and the 20th-cheapest for adult day health care out of the more than 180 cities in our study.
In addition, Orlando provides a plethora of recreational activities for retirees, ranking as the third-best city for recreation overall. It has an especially high number of music venues, fishing facilities, art galleries and adult volunteer activities.
Finally, Orlando ranks 19th when it comes to gerontologists and sixth-highest for home health care facilities per capita. It also has the seventh-best hospitals for geriatrics, allowing elderly residents to receive quality care."
WalletHub, "Best & Worst Places to Retire (2025)"
But Orlando isn’t the only high-ranking city included on the list. Miami (No. 4), Tampa (No. 5) and Ft. Lauderdale (No. 7) also placed within the top 10.
The rest of the Florida cities included in this year’s ranking placed as follows:
| Rank | City | Total Score | Best Category (Rank) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orlando | 62.63 | Affordability (No. 5) |
| 4 | Miami | 58.63 | Activities (No. 7) |
| 5 | Tampa | 58.14 | Activities (No. 10) |
| 7 | Ft. Lauderdale | 57.49 | Activities (No. 14) |
| 12 | St. Petersburg | 55.83 | Activities (No. 31) |
| 20 | Cape Coral | 54.32 | Quality of Life (No. 22) |
| 30 | Pembroke Pines | 52.41 | Quality of Life (No. 17) |
| 40 | Hialeah | 51.23 | Quality of Life (No. 27) |
| 45 | Jacksonville | 50.77 | Affordability (No. 21) |
| 55 | Tallahassee | 50.07 | Affordability (No. 11) |
| 107 | Port St. Lucie | 46.47 | Affordability (No. 36) |