DENVER (KDVR) — Recent studies have ranked several cities in the Denver metro area among the best in the U.S. for retirement.
As one might expect, the top cities include several in Florida, but the studies found that areas of the Midwest and states along the Rocky Mountains may be just as good or better.
One study by GoBankingRates ranked five cities near Denver among the 50 best retirement towns for the upper middle class. Another study by WalletHub ranked two Colorado cities among the best places for retirement in the U.S., while one was among the worst.
Best retirement towns for the upper-middle class
GoBankingRates used the Pew Research Center’s definition of the middle class and broke it into three ranges to set the “upper middle class” as those with a household income from $120,896 to $155,438.
Cities were narrowed down to places with a percentage of people 65 years and older higher than the national average of 16.8%. The study then calculated the cost of living using average mortgage and expenditure costs, and used the 50/30/20 finance rule to double the total cost of living for necessities and find the comfortable cost of living.
Colorado had five places in the top 50 list. Here’s how they ranked:
- 14. Longmont
- Annual cost of living comfortably: $125,071
- Single-family average home value: $586,395
- Average monthly mortgage: $3,381
- 15. Windsor
- Annual cost of living comfortably: $126,440
- Single-family average home value: $604,293
- Average monthly mortgage: $3,484
- 26. Arvada
- Annual cost of living comfortably: $134,747
- Single-family average home value: $643,627
- Average monthly mortgage: $3,711
- 40. Wheat Ridge
- Annual cost of living comfortably: $134,307
- Single-family average home value: $642,796
- Average monthly mortgage: $3,706
- 42. Centennial
- Annual cost of living comfortably: $139,973
- Single-family average home value: $680,362
- Average monthly mortgage: $3,923
The best retirement town was determined to be Dover, New Hampshire, with an annual cost of living comfortably for the upper-middle class at $123,246. Florida had 10 towns on the list and Illinois had seven. Nearby states like Utah, New Mexico, Idaho and Arizona also had cities on the list.
The top 5 retirement towns, according to GoBankingRates, are:
- Dover, New Hampshire
- Laguna Woods, California
- Milford, Connecticut
- Ashland, Oregon
- Wheaton, Illinois
Best and worst places to retire
WalletHub compared 180 U.S. cities across 45 key metrics of what makes a city retiree-friendly to determine where Americans can plan an affordable retirement while maintaining the best quality of life. Some data points the study considered include cost of living, retiree taxes, health infrastructure and more.
Colorado ranked in another WalletHub study earlier this year as the third-best U.S. state to retire in. In this study, Denver and Colorado Springs stood out as good options for retirees, while Aurora fell to the “worst” half of the list.
Here’s how the cities ranked overall and in the main categories:
- 17. Denver
- Affordability rank: 93
- Activities rank: 8
- Quality of life rank: 93
- Health care rank: 59
- 44. Colorado Springs
- Affordability rank: 52
- Activities rank: 94
- Quality of life rank: 31
- Health care rank: 78
- 116: Aurora
- Affordability rank: 93
- Activities rank: 132
- Quality of life rank: 131
- Health care rank: 30
Each of the Colorado cities tied for No. 15 in taxpayer friendliness and No. 48 in retired taxpayer friendliness. Aurora tied with two other cities in the top five for the highest annual cost of in-home services.
Orlando, Florida, maintained its reputation in the report as the No. 1 best place to retire, followed by Scottsdale, Arizona and Minneapolis.
Anthony Sutton is a business strategist and writer with a passion for management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. With years of experience in the corporate world, he shares insights on business growth, strategy, and innovation through management-opleiding.org.
