A perfect recreation score and a lower cost of living has earned New Orleans the top spot on a new list of best US retirement cities from Home Bay.
The California-based real estate brokerage compared the 50 most populous US metropolitan areas across 18 metrics, including cost of living, healthcare and quality of life. According to the study authors, the best cities to retire to are those with a high volume and quality of healthcare options and more affordable premiums for comprehensive health coverage.
Along with its voluminous cultural options, another perk of living in New Orleans for retirees is that Louisiana does not tax Social Security income and has income-level limits on tax rates for 401(k), individual retirement accounts and pension distributions, the website said. Also, New Orleans’ annual property tax rate is 43% lower than the average city in the study, and it has 29% more Medicare providers per 100,000 residents compared with the average metropolitan area in the study.
Rounding out the top five cities in this ranking were Birmingham, AL, No. 2 for its affordability; Louisville, KY, No. 3 for its older adult population that is 17% higher than average; St. Louis, MO, No. 4 and recognized for its quality of healthcare; and Denver at No. 5, which stood out for its walkability.
The five lowest-scoring cities for retirees were Minneapolis at No. 50; Riverside and Sacramento, CA, No. 49 and 48, respectively; Detroit, No. 47; and Seattle, No. 46.
Overall, the bottom 10 cities on the list had a higher cost of living compared with other metros due to relatively more expensive housing markets, sales taxes, utility costs and public transportation.
Although the authors said that Minneapolis has great walkability and a modest increase in typical home values compared with other cities, it had higher Medicare premiums, lower hospital and recreation ratings, and higher public transit costs and taxes.
Among the key findings, the top 15 metros had average monthly Medicare premiums that were 22% cheaper than the overall average. Minneapolis, which earned the title of worst retirement city, had an average monthly Medicare premium that was 279% more expensive than the average city in the study, the authors said.
The top 15 cities in the study also had an average estimated property tax rate of 1%, compared with 1.2% in the average city in the study.
The typical value of single-family homes in the top 15 cities also increased an average of 108.2% from 2012 to 2022, compared with 126.2% in the average city in the study — a 14% smaller increase. When compared with rising home values in the bottom 10 cities (161.1%), increases in the top 15 metros were approximately 33% lower.
Data were gathered from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, the US National Centers for Environmental Information, the Tax Policy Center, AARP, Zillow, Yelp, Walkscore and Numbeo.
