Cities to be Avoided in Retirement

When considering where to retire, it is crucial for one to look at factors such as; the cost of living, healthcare facilities, recreational amenities and the overall quality of life. WalletHub just rated more than 180 largest U.S. cities based on their affordability, activities, healthcare and quality of life. The nearer a city’s score is to 182 the less appealing it is for retirees.

Here are ten places that might not make the best retirement choices:

Bridgeport, CT

• Affordability: 179
• Activities: 164
• Healthcare: 16
• Quality of Life: 149

Bridgeport’s scores indicate that this city is not affordable, lacks many activities and has very low quality of life due to high taxes imposed by Connecticut state government. On the other hand, it does well in matters health care which is vital for retirees.

Newark, NJ

• Affordability: 173
• Activities: 63
• Healthcare: 112
• Quality of Life:163

One reason Newark has low affordability rating is because it has high taxes and poor healthcare. Moreover, Newark’s quality of life scores poorly though its activities’ score is relatively good.

San Bernardino, CA

• Affordability :77,
• Activities :176,
• Healthcare :173,
• Quality of Life :173.

In fact San Bernardino comes off as cheaper compared to other southern California cities but also performs dismally regarding Activities (176), Healthcare (173) and Quality of Life (173).

Rancho Cucamonga, CA

• Affordability :134
• Activities: 180
• Healthcare: 170
• Quality of Life: 69

This means that Rancho Cucamonga a suburb in San Bernardino is less affordable than others lacking activities and having poor healthcare but (better than others) higher quality lifestyle index.

Stockton, CA

• Affordability :103
• Activities :173
• Healthcare :167
• Quality of Life: 136

Stockton, near San Francisco, is famous for high taxes and thus low affordability scores. Similarly, it does not perform well in Activities (173), Healthcare (167) and Quality of Life(136).

Detroit, MI

• Affordability: 107
• Activities: 112
• Healthcare: 162
• Quality of life:181

Detroit suffers from high crime rates which makes it rank very low in quality of life. It also scores poorly in healthcare activities and affordability.

Vancouver, WA

• Affordability :177
• Activities :85
• Healthcare :67
• Quality of Life :124

Closer to Portland OR yet Vancouver is rated less affordable and has lower quality lifestyle despite good marks for health care and some activities.

Baltimore, MD

• Affordability :150
• Activities :87
• Healthcare :130
• Quality of Life :139

In Baltimore there is a lot of criminal activity as well as high prices for almost everything that could be bought there. Hence the city’s quality of life rankings are relatively poor, while its healthcare’s rating does not fare better than that. This all brings us back to cost considerations where Baltimore stands at number 150 nationally.

Wichita, KS

• Affordability :104
• Activities :128
• Healthcare:148
• Quality of Life:169

Wichita would never make reasonable facilities for retirees with regard to quality of life since Lubbock had come out with very poor performance across board. As another Kansas city Overland Park rates much better on all these counts combined Wichita alone would take retirees’ interests into account because it will provide little if any value added services to those who want to live there after their retirement years as indicated by approximately similar figures obtained by the other cities reviewed here.

Lubbock, TX

• Affordability:84
• Activities;153
• Healthcare: 163
• Quality of Life;158

However, Lubbock is lowly ranked in terms of activities (153), healthcare (163) and quality life since it is the 158th most affordable city in the United States. Other options for retirees include Texas cities as Austin and San Antonio.

Sophia Nguyen

Associate Writer • Environmental Technology and Sustainability Writer

Sophia writes articles on innovations in green technology, including ca energy, sustainable materials, and explores how technology can address environmental challenges and promote sustainability.