Research Identifies Arizona as the Best Area to Retire; New York Deemed the Worst

With National Homeownership Month well underway, new research from Bankrate.com found that Arizona hosts three metro areas in the top ten cities for senior citizens to retire, while New York hosts some of the worst areas to retire. Phoenix, Arizona was named as the best place to retire, while New York City was named the worst city to retire.

Bankrate.com reviewed 172 cities according to local weather, cost of living, crime rate, health care quality, tax burden, walkability, and senior well-being (a measurement from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index that quantifies how satisfied residents 65 and older are with their surroundings).

“Deciding where to retire is a very personal choice,” said Chris Kahn, Bankrate.com research and statistics analyst. “We ranked the cities on factors that matter most to seniors, but recognize that every city has its pros and cons that will be shaped by each individual’s personal experiences.”

According to the research, the Phoenix metro area came out on top for its weather and high well-being score, and while New York City ranked number one for walkability and has a wealth of cultural activities for retirees, its high cost of living and high tax burden can make it a difficult place to live for people on a fixed income.

“Just because a city ranks at the bottom doesn’t mean it’s a bad place to spend your golden years,” said Kahn. “Soon-to-be retirees should focus on what factors are most important to them and then consult rankings like this to see what cities best fit their criteria.”

In Fannie Mae's May 2015 National Housing Survey released today, consumer attitudes concerning the housing market showed vast improvement for the month of May, amid Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) increased job reports. These positive changes also support the case for an increase in housing activity this year.

The BLS’s May jobs reports showed an acceleration in average hourly earnings and reflected recent trends of firming personal income growth, revealing that the share of survey respondents reporting a significant increase in their household income climbed 4 percentage points to a near all-time high, Fannie Mae reported.

“We have found that these two indicators–good time to sell and income growth–are key drivers for the performance of the housing market and play an important role in our soon to be released Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI),” said Doug Duncan, SVP and chief economist at Fannie Mae. “The increase in these indicators suggests our forecast of moderate improvement in the housing market in 2015 is on course and mirrors the near-term performance of other leading market data, including mortgage applications and pending home sales.”

Top 10 Best Cities to Retire:

1. Phoenix, Arizona (including Mesa and Scottsdale)
2. Arlington/Alexandria, Virginia
3. Prescott, Arizona
4. Tucson, Arizona
5. Des Moines, Iowa
6. Denver, Colorado (including Aurora)
7. Austin, Texas (including Round Rock)
8. Cape Coral, Florida (including Ft. Myers)
9. Colorado Springs, Colorado
10. Franklin, Tennessee

Top 10 Worst Cities to Retire

1. New York, New York
2. Little Rock, Arkansas (including North Little Rock and Conway)
3. New Haven, Connecticut (including Milford, Bridgeport, Norwalk, and Stamford)
4. Buffalo, New York (including Rochester, Niagara Falls, and Cheektowaga)
5. Newark, New Jersey
6. Albany, New York (including Troy and Schenectady)
7. Hartford, Connecticut (including East and West Hartford)
8. Oakland, California
9. Indianapolis, Indiana
10. Cleveland, Ohio

Click here to view the complete Bankrate.com research.