{"id":439822,"date":"2026-02-22T15:40:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T15:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/439822\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T15:40:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T15:40:29","slug":"the-top-3-affordable-cities-for-retirement-with-low-cost-high-quality-healthcare-access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/439822\/","title":{"rendered":"The top 3 affordable cities for retirement with low-cost, high-quality healthcare access"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Medical costs can make up a chunk of retirement expenses –<\/a> but where a retiree chooses to live can have a significant impact on that spending. <\/p>\n

Most adults 65 or older will rely on the government\u2019s Medicare program for health insurance when they retire. On average, a retiree would need up to $428,000 saved to cover Medicare premiums, deductibles and prescription drugs in their golden years, according to a 2025 study<\/a> from nonpartisan benefits and public policy research firm Employee Benefit Research Institute. Yet, the average retiree<\/a> has just under $290,000<\/a> saved for retirement. <\/p>\n

Therefore, finding a city that has affordable<\/a> and high-quality healthcare is as important as ever for those getting ready to exit the world of work<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Independent analyzed all 50 states based on three categories: overall cost of living, state Medicare performance and average annual medical expenses<\/a>. <\/p>\n

In the three states that came out on top, these cities beat the national average for cost of living and had hospitals recognized for outstanding care.<\/p>\n

\"Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh offers competitive cost of living along with award-winning hospitals (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n

Steeltown savings<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh\u2019s blue-collar reputation belies the city\u2019s rise over the past decade as a hot spot for culture<\/a>, according to tourism publication VisitPITTSBURGH. Overall, Pennsylvania offers a solid trio of affordable cost of living, top-20 Medicare performance, and top-15 health cost of living:<\/p>\n

Overall cost of living: No. 25 Medicare performance: No. 16 Health cost of living: No. 12 <\/p>\n

Pittsburgh\u2019s overall cost of living is 2 percent<\/a> below the national average, according to workplace compensation firm Payscale. Travel + Leisure magazine named it the best city in Pennsylvania for retirement<\/a> in 2024, and U.S. News & World Report named Pittsburgh among the top-10 places to retire<\/a> the same year.<\/p>\n

\u201cSteeltown\u2019s\u201d University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is home to multiple award-winning hospitals. Magee Women\u2019s Hospital earned a top-100 award for joint replacements<\/a> from healthcare ranking and reviews site Healthgrades.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh\u2019s UPMC Presbyterian<\/a> has earned Healthgrade awards for outstanding patient experience (in 2023 and 2024) and ranked among the top 100 hospitals in the country for gastrointestinal and stroke care. <\/p>\n

Cornhusker care<\/p>\n

Omaha, Nebraska, has an excellent cost of living and Medicare performance that balances out an average health cost of living: <\/p>\n

Cost of living: No. 13 Medicare performance: No. 15 Health cost of living: No. 24 \"Methodist<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Methodist Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, has won multiple awards for its outpatient care (Getty Images\/iStockphoto)<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s cost of living is 10 percent below the national average, according to Payscale. The city earned a spot in the National Education Association\u2019s 2026 list<\/a> of 23 affordable retirement spots for educators.<\/p>\n

Omaha\u2019s Methodist Hospital has a consistent track record of providing excellent outpatient care<\/a>, earning Healthgrades\u2019 Outstanding Patient Experience Award in 2023, 2024 and 2025, and winning Healthgrades\u2019 Excellence Award in 2025 and 2026 for its outpatient joint replacements and prostate care. <\/p>\n

The city\u2019s CHI Health Lakeside<\/a> was named to Healthgrades\u2019 2026 lists of the 250 best hospitals in the country and the 100 best hospitals for critical care.<\/p>\n

Healthy hawkeyes<\/p>\n

Des Moines, Iowa, offers a strong combination of excellent cost of living and a top-20 rating for Medicare performance and health cost of living:<\/p>\n

Overall cost of living: No. 9 Medicare performance: No. 18 Health cost of living: No. 17 \"Des<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Des Moines\u2019 cost of living is 16 percent lower than the national average, and its MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center was one of America\u2019s 250 best hospitals in 2024 (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s cost of living is 16 percent lower<\/a> than the national average, according to employment data site Payscale.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center was named to hospital rankings site Healthgrades\u2019 list of America\u2019s 250 best hospitals<\/a> in 2024 and was among Healthgrades\u2019 top 100 hospitals for coronary intervention<\/a> in 2026. Additionally, the hospital won a Healthgrades Coronary Intervention Excellence Award in 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":439823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-439822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}