Fortune 25 Best Places to Retire Affordably 2024 Methodology

To select the Best Places to Retire Affordably, we evaluated over 2,000 cities, towns, suburbs, exurbs, villages, and townships, each with approximately 10,000 residents or more, across all 50 states in the U.S. While we recognize that affordability is inherently subjective and relative in the context of wide-ranging American socioeconomic realities, we wanted to include a broad variety of regions—some of which have a higher baseline cost of living.

To thoroughly analyze each place, Fortune reviewed nearly 200 data categories related to  health care, wellness, livability, resources for older adults, and financial health, translating to 200,000 unique data points. The team paid particular attention to places that can support older adults’ mental, physical, and social health as they age. Our team gave special consideration to cities where residents enjoy access to above-average home health care services, nursing homes, and independent living facilities.

We also evaluated many factors that people may find desirable, such as the number of sunny days per year and proximity to nature, and put emphasis on the percentage of residents who consider their town a perfect place to live. To ensure the winning places are cities and towns that are relatively affordable, Fortune took into account property taxes and eliminated locales with home sale prices that are more than twice as high as the state median. Fortune also incorporated socioeconomic, religious, and ethnic diversity into its data collection process.

Where our data comes from

To build this ranking, Fortune worked with several critical data partners—including Caring.com, CVS Health, Healthgrades, Ineedana.com, Sharecare, and Witlytic—that helped provide information for nearly 200 separate data categories in our comprehensive evaluation process. CVS Health is a sponsor of Fortune Well.

Fortune also sourced data from America’s Health Rankings, ATTOM Data Solutions, the Council for Community and Economic Research, the School Finance Indicators Database, Everytown Gun Law Rankings, Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, the Johns Hopkins University Data Archive, Kaiser Family Foundation, SchoolDigger, and STI: PopStats. 

In addition to private-sector data, Fortune relied on information from federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Center for Education Statistics, the National Center for Health Statistics, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the U.S. Department of Education.

Note: Unforeseen severe weather events have increasingly become a significant factor in considering retirement locations. In recent years, the unpredictability and frequency of such weather phenomena may impact the suitability and safety of various regions. We recommend thorough research to ensure an informed choice that takes into account the potential risks associated with severe weather conditions.

Credits

Fortune 25 Best Places to Retire Affordably was created under the direction of Fortune Well editor Jennifer Fields and senior health and wellness reporter Alexa Mikhail, and was written by Hillary Hoffower. Copyediting was provided by Lauren Goldstein. Production was led by Lydia Belanger. Additional reporting was provided by Fortune Well fellow Ani Freedman. Art and photography were led by executive creative director Peter Herbert, creative director Josue Evilla, photo director Mia Diehl, and associate photo editor Alex Scimecca.