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12 Worst U.S. Cities for Retirement: 2023

Michael S. Fischer By Michael S. Fischer

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Related: 12 Worst U.S. Cities for Retirement: 2022

In 2022, the share of Americans confident that they will have enough money for a comfortable retirement dropped from 73% to 64% year over year, the biggest decline since the global financial crisis, the Employee Benefit Research Institute reported earlier this year.

Of the third of Americans who do not feel confident about their retirement prospects, a fifth said they had minimal to no savings. This means many will continue to work past retirement. An alternative for others may be relocation to an area where they can stretch their dollar without sacrificing their lifestyle.

Ideally, the cities these retirees choose will also be safe, have pleasant weather and offer access to good health care and abundant ways to spend leisure. Recent research by WalletHub, a personal finance site, found that many places fall far short of the ideal.

WalletHub compared the retirement-friendliness of 182 cities — including the 150 most populated U.S. cities, plus at least two of the most populated ones in each state — across these dimensions: 

  • Affordability, including adjusted cost of living, retired taxpayer friendliness and annual cost of in-home services
  • Activities, including recreation and senior centers per capita, museums per capita and availability of adult volunteer activities
  • Quality of life, including mild weather, share of population 65 and older and strength of elder-abuse protections 
  • Health care, including gerontologists per 10,000 residents 65 and older, quality of public hospital system and home care facilities per capita.

Researchers evaluated these dimensions using 45 relevant metrics, and graded each on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the most favorable conditions for retirement.

Because of the significance of cost in retirement, the analysis assumed that retirees will rely on a fixed income. The lower their expenses, the better retirees will fare in a particular city, WalletHub said.

See the gallery for the 12 worst cities for retirement, according to WalletHub.