Yet another ranking on the best and worst places to retire has reared its head, making would-be retirees' decisions that much more complicated.
As if they don't have enough trouble just getting to retirement, aging Americans struggling to save enough to kiss the workplace goodbye now have another set of statistics to examine when trying to figure out where to make their post-retirement "last stand," as it were.
In response to numerous gloomy statistics, such as the number of Americans who have postponed retirement altogether (16 percent, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute's annual "Retirement Confidence Survey"), those who don't have enough money to retire (18 percent) and worrisome debt levels (58 percent of workers and 44 percent of retirees), WalletHub decided that another method of evaluating cities was called for.
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So it very helpfully crunched a bunch of other numbers, including such things as cost of living, job prospects for workers 65 and up, quality of life and availability of health care, and put the 150 largest cities in the U.S. in order by overall ranking and also ranked them in order in each of five categories: affordability, job prospects for workers 65 and up, available recreational activities, quality of life and health care.
Here are the five best and worst places to retire, in reverse order, according to WalletHub's system:
5th Best Place to Retire: Scottsdale, Arizona
With an affordability rank of 100, a jobs rank of 54, an activities rank of 14, a quality of life rank of 3 and a health care rank of 21, Scottsdale is high on the list of desirable places, but by no means easy to afford compared to others.
4th Best Place to Retire: St. Petersburg, Florida
With an affordability rank of 9, a jobs rank of 45, an activities rank of 31, a quality of life rank of 48 and a health care rank of 49, this Florida city is just one of many in the state to get a high ranking.
3rd Best Place to Retire: Orlando, Florida
With an affordability rank of 7, a jobs rank of 98, an activities rank of 2, a quality of life rank of 93 and a health care rank of 30, this entertainment hub in Florida is also a promising retirement hub in third place.
2nd Best Place to Retire: Grand Prairie, Texas
With an affordability rank of 26, a jobs rank of 58, an activities rank of 70, a quality of life rank of 30 and a health care rank of 2, Grand Prairie finished just out of the top position.
Best Place to Retire: Tampa, Florida
With an affordability rank of 9, a jobs rank of 92, an activities rank of 3, a quality of life rank of 19 and a health care rank of 46, Tampa won the top spot and will likely keep its retirees very busy indeed.
5th Worst Place to Retire: Chicago, Illinois
With an affordability rank of 119, a jobs rank of 131, an activities rank of 90, a quality of life rank of 146 and a health care rank of 96, retirees could get blown right out of the Windy City.
4th Worst Place to Retire: New York, New York
With an affordability rank of 134, a jobs rank of 141, an activities rank of 130, a quality of life rank of 36 and a health care rank of 143, fuggeddaboudit when it comes to retiring in New York.
3rd Worst Place to Retire: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
With an affordability rank of 123, a jobs rank of 136, an activities rank of 97, a quality of life rank of 84 and a health care rank of 148, it's evident that the City of Brotherly Love isn't quite so fond of retirees.
2nd Worst Place to Retire: Newark, New Jersey
With an affordability rank of 112, a jobs rank of 146, an activities rank of 122, a quality of life rank of 142 and a health care rank of 89, it could be hard to see the attraction of a retirement set in Newark.
Worst Place to Retire: Providence, Rhode Island
With an affordability rank of 117, a jobs rank of 139, an activities rank of 116, a quality of life rank of 138 and a health care rank of 117, it would seem that budget-conscious retirees in search of health care, quality of life and things to do — not to mention jobs — might do well to avoid Providence.
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