Introduction
Working out the best place to retire can be quite subjective, depending on individual preferences. However, identifying the worst places to retire is relatively straightforward if we agree on three critical metrics.
In this post, we will explore ten cities to avoid based on challenges for retirees, and frankly, most people. These challenges include access to quality healthcare, the cost of living, and the crime rate.
Key Metrics for Best Places to Retire
This post will discuss the top three or four cities in each category. To be clear, if a city is at the top of a category, that is not a good thing.
We will start with crime rates (both violent and property crime combined), followed by the cost of living, and end with an examination of the healthcare systems that exist in several cities in this country.
Important Considerations Best Places to Retire
Before we delve into the details, let’s start with two important points. To start, we can focus on a small community with a population of either 21,000 or 30,000. This community should have exceptionally high crime rates.
There are quite a few of those in this country. However, to make this meaningful to you, we’ve kept the population at 250,000 or higher. Second, within cities and even towns, there are friendly neighborhoods and dangerous neighborhoods. If your neighborhood doesn’t represent what you’re seeing here, there’s a good chance that you live in a friendly neighborhood.
Cities with the Highest Crime Rate
The worst and best places to retire in 2024
This data comes from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, CBS News, and the Property Club of New York City.
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, the birthplace of rock and roll, is home to Graceland and Sun Studio, the original label that signed Elvis Presley. Despite its rich history, Memphis has an 8.4 percent crime rate, which is 238 percent higher than the national average and the highest in the nation.
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, home of the St. Louis Arch and the birthplace of the ice cream cone, is also one of the most dangerous cities in the United States. With a declining population, lower taxes have resulted in reduced police protection. The crime rate is 8.13 percent, making St. Louis higher than the national average.
Oakland, California
Oakland, known for Lake Merritt, Jack London Square, Fox Theater, and the Redwood Regional Park, is also infamous for its crime rate. Although crime levels have improved significantly, they still aren’t where they should be.
Oakland’s crime rate is 6.90, which is 176 percent higher than the national average. It’s also worth pointing out that Oakland is one of the most expensive cities to live in the United States, with a cost of living at 97.7 percent of that in New York City.
Cost of Living in Different Cities
To find the best places to retire, it’s important to consider the cost of living.
Unless you have an unlimited budget, the cost of living will be a necessary part of your retirement decision. For context, living in Memphis, Tennessee, would cost you 66 percent on average of the cost to live in New York City. This section compares all benchmarks against New York City.
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu, with a stable population of around 350,000 over the last 20 years, is close to everything from Pearl Harbor to Diamond Head. However, it is quite expensive, coming in at 103 percent of the cost of living in New York City. Interestingly, Honolulu prides itself as one of the safest cities in the country.
New York City
Is New York City one of the worst places to retire?
New York City, known for its culture, theater district, and tourist attractions, has a cost of living that is, unsurprisingly, 100 percent of itself. It’s important to note that New York City currently has a reputation as a dangerous place to live, ranking in the bottom 20 percent in terms of safety.
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, known for its cable cars, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Fisherman’s Wharf, has a cost of living at 99.7 percent of New York City.
Oakland, California
Oakland, previously mentioned for its high crime rate, also has a high cost of living, at 98.8 percent of New York City.
Healthcare in Different Cities
Healthcare is Very Important to find Best Places to retire
While crime and cost statistics are relatively straightforward, defining good versus bad healthcare might seem more complex. However, it’s actually quite simple.
Several factors measure bad healthcare, including the percentage of people without insurance, the percentage of people in fair to poor health in a city. And the percentage of people who could not receive needed care in the last year because of excessive costs.
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee, the city with the highest crime rate, also ranks as the worst city for healthcare. This combination makes it a less than an ideal choice for retirees.
Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska, faces unique challenges. While it doesn’t have the crime and poverty issues common in other cities with poor healthcare, it struggles with staffing. A lower level of staff per 100,000 citizens means that healthcare prices go up. In fact, the average cost of healthcare in Anchorage is $11,000, the highest in the nation.
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis faces issues related to the politics around providing health insurance to low-income individuals. Medical facilities and practitioners are making decisions about whether they want to be in Indianapolis if they may or may not get reimbursed with medical insurance.