Financial Advisor fa-mag.com
November 9, 2023
If you are looking for a top-ranked city to spend your retirement years, look no further than the state of Pennsylvania. Six of the state’s cities made the 2024 U.S. News & World Report list of best places to retire.
Harrisburg ranked No. 1 based on the overall happiness of its residents, retiree taxes, housing costs and proximity to healthcare options, the report noted. The others, Reading (No. 2), Lancaster (No. 3), Scranton (4), Allentown (5), York (7) and Pittsburgh (10), also typically have quality healthcare and residents who report liking where they live.
But if your primary desire is affordability, those cities may not be the best for you. U.S. News has separate ranking criteria for that. And based on that ranking, most of the top cities are situated in Southern and Midwestern states.
U.S. News specifically looked at aspects such as housing affordability and price parity and the ability to afford everyday goods and services in 150 metropolitan areas. Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the report analyzed the median annual housing costs for homeowners with a mortgage and the median annual gross rent and then it created a blended annual housing cost for each metro area using the ratio of renters to homeowners with a mortgage.
To determine the differences in price levels across metropolitan areas, the report used data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis on the regional price parity for all items (goods, housing, utilities and other items) to establish the overall affordability of a metro area compared with the national average.
These are the 10 best affordable places to retire in 2024, according to the latest rankings by U.S. News & World Report.
10. South Bend, Ind.
The cost of living in South Bend is lower than in most cities. Home of the University of Notre Dame, the city has an average annual salary of $49,240 (the national average is $59,428, according to Forbes). The median home price is $207,442 (the national average is $383,883) and the median monthly rent is $874.
