What’s better than Christmas or your birthday?
Your last day at work… ever.
And then it hits you, one of the happiest problems you’ll have, where do you want to spend your retirement? Every day at the beach and golf course or maybe a city close to family and friends.
What you need is a list of the best places to retire in the United States. And that’s what you’ll find here.
We used Saturday Night Science to look at the things people generally like about retirement — weather, things to do, affordable living, and the ability to travel — for the biggest cities in America.
No need to say thank you. Least we could do now that you’re hanging them up and headed home.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is the United States’s statewide median.
the United States statewide median: $80,734
the United States statewide median: $332,700
On the map
Where the best cities to retire in America are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Determined The Best Places To Retire In The US
To create our list of the best cities in America to retire, we used Saturday Night Science.
Step one was to limit our analysis to all the cities in America with over 100,000 people. This left us with 274 cities nationwide.
For these 274, we looked at the following criteria taken from the Census, the FBI’s Crime Report, National Weather Service, and OpenFlights:
We then ranked each of these places for each criterion from one to 274, with the lowest number being the best for retirees.
- Things to do per capita (Museum, Libraries, and Colleges)
- Crimes per capita (lower is better)
- Distance to closest airport
- Median age (higher is better)
- Median rent (lower is better)
- Weather (Warmer and less rainy)
- Cost of living (lower is better)
Finally, we took the average rank across these criteria. The place, in this case Boca Raton, with the lowest average rank, was crowned the best of the best to retire — a place for you to start your second career.
We updated this article for 2026. This is our eleventh time ranking the best cities to retire to in America.
The full list
Best Cities To Retire In The United States For 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Median Income | Average Home Price | Median Rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boca Raton, FL | 100,234 | $106,273 | $562,566 | $2,508 |
| 2 | Palm Bay, FL | 130,132 | $72,614 | $302,461 | $1,601 |
| 3 | Coral Springs, FL | 136,103 | $93,602 | $520,102 | $2,084 |
| 4 | Carlsbad, CA | 114,373 | $142,748 | $1,370,649 | $2,808 |
| 5 | West Palm Beach, FL | 122,290 | $73,446 | $399,471 | $1,772 |
| 6 | Rancho Cucamonga, CA | 175,411 | $111,895 | $792,765 | $2,357 |
| 7 | Chula Vista, CA | 276,375 | $108,032 | $846,372 | $2,229 |
| 8 | Carrollton, TX | 133,740 | $101,396 | $406,040 | $1,735 |
| 9 | Thousand Oaks, CA | 125,205 | $135,603 | $1,049,634 | $2,664 |
| 10 | Simi Valley, CA | 125,634 | $122,081 | $844,909 | $2,579 |
| 11 | San Diego, CA | 1,389,526 | $108,077 | $1,001,265 | $2,313 |
| 12 | Frisco, TX | 219,304 | $150,212 | $656,758 | $2,014 |
| 13 | Cary, NC | 179,306 | $134,905 | $626,396 | $1,738 |
| 14 | Surprise, AZ | 154,948 | $96,711 | $422,473 | $2,033 |
| 15 | Sugar Land, TX | 110,016 | $136,217 | $447,176 | $1,957 |
| 16 | Torrance, CA | 142,130 | $116,217 | $1,124,932 | $2,280 |
| 17 | Plano, TX | 290,594 | $112,253 | $498,989 | $1,841 |
| 18 | Allen, TX | 110,265 | $130,901 | $493,532 | $1,932 |
| 19 | Goodyear, AZ | 107,645 | $103,319 | $469,424 | $1,956 |
| 20 | Tampa, FL | 401,618 | $75,475 | $374,888 | $1,701 |
| 21 | Scottsdale, AZ | 243,821 | $110,886 | $858,022 | $2,013 |
| 22 | Miami Gardens, FL | 113,177 | $63,627 | $469,434 | $1,787 |
| 23 | Huntington Beach, CA | 195,240 | $120,919 | $1,366,658 | $2,510 |
| 24 | Chandler, AZ | 280,136 | $108,095 | $524,156 | $1,902 |
| 25 | Miami, FL | 459,745 | $62,462 | $579,564 | $1,758 |
| 26 | Gilbert, AZ | 280,262 | $122,551 | $572,507 | $2,110 |
| 27 | Henderson, NV | 332,141 | $90,138 | $486,156 | $1,824 |
| 28 | Santa Clarita, CA | 230,221 | $123,062 | $802,016 | $2,544 |
| 29 | Orange, CA | 138,266 | $117,113 | $1,143,788 | $2,327 |
| 30 | West Covina, CA | 107,037 | $101,065 | $852,373 | $2,245 |
| 31 | Corona, CA | 159,670 | $109,242 | $764,386 | $2,228 |
| 32 | Peoria, AZ | 196,906 | $95,815 | $488,596 | $1,843 |
| 33 | Menifee, CA | 110,305 | $93,454 | $584,525 | $2,110 |
| 34 | St. Petersburg, FL | 262,732 | $75,192 | $347,964 | $1,663 |
| 35 | Fremont, CA | 228,295 | $181,506 | $1,543,132 | $2,933 |
| 36 | Los Angeles, CA | 3,857,263 | $81,939 | $952,183 | $1,933 |
| 37 | Roseville, CA | 155,955 | $119,288 | $644,324 | $2,142 |
| 38 | Oceanside, CA | 172,242 | $97,737 | $877,742 | $2,303 |
| 39 | Elk Grove, CA | 179,155 | $125,924 | $637,450 | $2,262 |
| 40 | Garden Grove, CA | 170,964 | $92,174 | $1,013,183 | $2,012 |
| 41 | Pearland, TX | 127,514 | $118,842 | $382,157 | $1,860 |
| 42 | Quincy, MA | 102,114 | $98,882 | $675,959 | $2,118 |
| 43 | Mckinney, TX | 210,600 | $124,215 | $481,963 | $1,901 |
| 44 | Murrieta, CA | 112,064 | $114,081 | $688,358 | $2,388 |
| 45 | El Cajon, CA | 104,449 | $67,511 | $816,317 | $1,856 |
| 46 | San Jose, CA | 990,138 | $146,427 | $1,463,614 | $2,669 |
| 47 | Centennial, CO | 108,201 | $131,928 | $649,086 | $2,148 |
| 48 | Sunnyvale, CA | 154,236 | $186,170 | $2,168,909 | $3,039 |
| 49 | New Braunfels, TX | 104,643 | $86,021 | $350,104 | $1,654 |
| 50 | Charleston, SC | 154,338 | $92,414 | $589,607 | $1,722 |
| 51 | Escondido, CA | 149,668 | $91,967 | $844,072 | $2,046 |
| 52 | Sandy Springs, GA | 107,087 | $104,340 | $691,063 | $1,870 |
| 53 | Ontario, CA | 180,547 | $88,941 | $672,742 | $2,030 |
| 54 | Naperville, IL | 150,692 | $155,105 | $610,454 | $1,885 |
| 55 | Pasadena, CA | 136,969 | $105,192 | $1,209,228 | $2,265 |
| 56 | Carmel, IN | 101,651 | $141,505 | $563,458 | $1,712 |
| 57 | Clovis, CA | 124,725 | $99,241 | $521,708 | $1,792 |
| 58 | Temecula, CA | 111,167 | $121,063 | $766,379 | $2,347 |
| 59 | Santa Clara, CA | 130,256 | $178,958 | $1,782,192 | $3,016 |
| 60 | Virginia Beach, VA | 456,349 | $92,968 | $427,032 | $1,714 |
| 61 | Inglewood, CA | 104,569 | $72,750 | $763,568 | $1,787 |
| 62 | Irvine, CA | 311,690 | $136,719 | $1,557,982 | $2,997 |
| 63 | Lewisville, TX | 131,080 | $89,233 | $393,896 | $1,670 |
| 64 | Mesa, AZ | 511,764 | $82,752 | $435,134 | $1,620 |
| 65 | Savannah, GA | 147,898 | $57,137 | $326,509 | $1,382 |
| 66 | Fontana, CA | 214,169 | $102,821 | $639,032 | $1,839 |
| 67 | Santa Rosa, CA | 177,090 | $99,060 | $718,726 | $2,152 |
| 68 | Fullerton, CA | 140,968 | $104,286 | $1,050,945 | $2,194 |
| 69 | Hayward, CA | 158,801 | $113,318 | $848,427 | $2,391 |
| 70 | Round Rock, TX | 127,786 | $99,287 | $407,077 | $1,763 |
| 71 | Anaheim, CA | 344,521 | $95,227 | $950,504 | $2,175 |
| 72 | Stamford, CT | 137,144 | $111,586 | $704,417 | $2,276 |
| 73 | Yonkers, NY | 209,978 | $83,549 | $680,218 | $1,784 |
| 74 | Vacaville, CA | 102,596 | $111,126 | $608,239 | $2,299 |
| 75 | El Paso, TX | 680,130 | $59,745 | $234,775 | $1,073 |
| 76 | Grand Prairie, TX | 201,883 | $81,619 | $316,527 | $1,629 |
| 77 | Richardson, TX | 118,731 | $98,111 | $440,400 | $1,857 |
| 78 | Concord, CA | 124,035 | $108,709 | $742,769 | $2,274 |
| 79 | Broken Arrow, OK | 118,180 | $86,765 | $286,846 | $1,320 |
| 80 | El Monte, CA | 106,109 | $68,030 | $765,444 | $1,736 |
| 81 | Irving, TX | 256,492 | $81,830 | $341,503 | $1,619 |
| 82 | Mcallen, TX | 145,385 | $61,579 | $229,001 | $1,049 |
| 83 | Chesapeake, VA | 252,583 | $95,373 | $420,756 | $1,586 |
| 84 | Oakland, CA | 439,418 | $101,600 | $716,248 | $1,979 |
| 85 | New York, NY | 8,483,844 | $80,483 | $812,861 | $1,821 |
| 86 | Santa Ana, CA | 312,534 | $93,999 | $866,066 | $2,082 |
| 87 | Sparks, NV | 110,024 | $89,056 | $529,283 | $1,716 |
| 88 | Midland, TX | 136,640 | $89,585 | $328,325 | $1,434 |
| 89 | Pomona, CA | 147,943 | $79,479 | $690,986 | $1,810 |
| 90 | Lynn, MA | 101,709 | $75,043 | $580,316 | $1,722 |
| 91 | Bellevue, WA | 151,847 | $165,576 | $1,516,154 | $2,572 |
| 92 | Alexandria, VA | 156,976 | $119,681 | $676,205 | $2,089 |
| 93 | Jurupa Valley, CA | 107,011 | $97,550 | $672,514 | $1,741 |
| 94 | Austin, TX | 979,539 | $93,658 | $508,530 | $1,729 |
| 95 | Fort Worth, TX | 963,194 | $79,507 | $298,051 | $1,509 |
| 96 | Costa Mesa, CA | 110,330 | $111,505 | $1,413,322 | $2,446 |
| 97 | Laredo, TX | 257,619 | $63,915 | $220,331 | $1,030 |
| 98 | Sterling Heights, MI | 133,573 | $79,909 | $306,785 | $1,292 |
| 99 | Arvada, CO | 122,634 | $117,348 | $616,566 | $1,888 |
| 100 | Moreno Valley, CA | 211,666 | $93,222 | $551,284 | $2,135 |
Source: U.S. Census, FBI, National Weather Service, OpenFlights. The 274 largest US cities.
Summary
Summary: The Best Cities To Retire Around The United States
After measuring the kinds of things that retirees crave, we arrived at this set of the best places to retire in the US. And while Florida and California don’t dominate the list, we take that as a sign we figured out the hidden gems you should be considering.
The best cities to retire in the United States are Boca Raton, FL, Palm Bay, FL, Coral Springs, FL, Carlsbad, CA, West Palm Beach, FL, Rancho Cucamonga, CA, Chula Vista, CA, Carrollton, TX, Thousand Oaks, CA, and Simi Valley, CA.
