We spend years and years of our lives working and dreaming of retirement. But when retirement comes, what’s there to do?! The world is your oyster, and you’re given the perfect opportunity to travel to new places and see new things! That being said, it can be overwhelming to figure out where to start, so we found the best cities in the U.S. for retirees to visit based on ranking factors such as: accommodation cost, average cost of food and drinks, and the number of entertainment opportunities available!
Methodology
To find out, we here at Coventry Direct developed our own way to rank the 50 most populous U.S. cities by the average cost of a stay and opportunities for events and entertainment. We judged several factors, including:
- Average Cost of Accommodation (Typical Double-Occupancy Hotel Room)
- Average Transportation Cost Per Day (Taxis, Local buses, Subway, etc.)
- Average Cost of (Meals For One Day)
- Average Cost of Drinks (Per Day)
- Average Cost of Entertainment (Entrance tickets, shows, etc.) Per Day
- Airfare Cost
- Number of Upcoming Art/Theater Events
- % of Retiree Population
This led to each city being given a score from 0-50, with a score closer to 0 meaning it’s worse for retirees, and a score closer to 50 meaning it’s better!
The Top 20 Best U.S. Cities for Retirees to Visit
Our top three best U.S. cities for retirees to visit have two popular Florida vacation spots which commonly have a high percentage of retirees. Miami and Tampa come in at the first two spots with scores of 39.4 and 38.7 respectively out of a possible score of 50. These beach towns are known for their warm weather and older population. 17% of Miami’s population are retirees, and it’s almost 19% for Tampa! Phoenix, another warm weathered city, rounds out our top 3 spots with an overall score of 38.69, just barely missing the second spot by a tenth of a point.
While the majority of the cities in the top 20 list are located in warmer climates year-round, cities like Baltimore, Detroit, Cleveland, Seattle, and a few others make the list. Hopefully, retirees will be visiting in the warmer months, although there are still a lot of things to do in these cities. Baltimore, Philadelphia, Providence, San Diego, and San Francisco all boast a high number of art and theater events.
The Top 10 Worst U.S. Cities for Retirees to Visit
Cost was a big factor when ranking these cities with 6 out of our 8 ranking factors analyzing this metric, so it’s no surprise cities like Las Vegas and New York make the top 10 worst cities for retirees to visit. The accommodation costs alone in Las Vegas are $147 more than the number one spot, Miami.
The Best and Worst U.S. Cities for Retirees to Visit
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Wondering where your city ranks? The table above provides a list of the cities that we researched and the data for each of the ranking factors.
Final Thoughts
If you are already retired or it’s in your near future, what does retirement look like for you? Will you focus on traveling, spending time with family, or move to a different state? However you decide to spend your future, Coventry Direct is here to help uncover more retirement income. Learn more about how to sell a life insurance policy for cash and find out if you qualify to sell your life insurance.
