The research team at WalletHub has released is annual “Best & Worst Place to Retire” for 2026 and not surprisingly, Florida dominated the list with several cities getting the stamp of approval.
Southwest Florida has bragging rites again thanks to the City of Cape Coral, one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. Cape Coral was ranked No. 13 on the WalletHub list putting it in some pretty good company in the Sunshine State.
The top three cities to retire to, according to WalletHub, are all in Florida.
Orlando is ranked No. 1, followed by Miami and Tampa. The other Florida city in the Top 10 is Fort Lauderdale at No. 8.
For its research, WalletHub compared the “retiree-friendliness” of more than 180 U.S. cities across 45 key metrics in four categories: affordability, activities, quality of life, and health care.
As Cape Coral continues to grow, with a population now exceeding 200,000, it continues to check all these boxes, including the big news in August that the Cape its getting it second hospital. Residents also recently celebrated the opening of Festival Park in Northwest Cape Coral that will welcome youth sports events and live entertainment.
And let’s not forget this fun fact: Cape Coral’s new American flag, with the tallest flag pole in the state of Florida and the flag as big as a house, has been fluttering since July. The pole stands at 250 feet, putting half-staff at about 125 feet.
Cape Coral’s highest ranking in the researched categories was affordability (14th), followed by quality of life (26th), activities (72nd), and healthcare (82nd).
More Cape Coral fun facts
The city features over 400 miles of fresh and saltwater canals, letting boaters cruise straight out to the Gulf of Mexico or the Matlacha
Spanning over 100 square miles, Cape Coral is the largest city in Southwest Florida by land size and the biggest city between Tampa and Miami.
Baltimore brothers Leonard and Jack Rosen purchased the original land area for $678,000 in 1957 to design a massive master-planned community.
The city hosts the largest population of burrowing owls in Florida, with around 1,000 nesting pairs frequently spotted in yards and empty.
More Florida cities and their retirement rankings
Other Florida cities on the list include:
No. 16: St. Petersburg, Florida
No. 22: Pembroke Pines, Florida
No. 37: Jacksonville, Florida
No. 56: Tallahassee, Florida
The lowest Florida city on the list was Port St. Lucie at No. 95.
WalletHub’s Top-10 places to retired in the U.S.
No. 4: Scottsdale, Arizona
No. 9: Charleston, South Carolina
Why did Florida become a popular retirement destination?
Until the early 20th Century, Florida was the least populated state in the U.S.
But a number of factors made it more attractive, including a tourism boom, the land boom of the 1920s, railway extension extended down to Miami, and, possibly most significantly of all, the rapid widespread growth of air-conditioning. (Fun fact: Compressor-based machines to make ice were invented in 1842 by a Florida physician, Dr. John Gorrie, to keep his patients cool.)
After World War II, newspaper articles touted the Sunshine State as a sun-soaked paradise where seniors could enjoy their retirement years. They talked up how retirees could sell their costly properties up North, buy cheaper properties here, and keep more of the difference thanks to the state’s low or nonexistent taxes. The large number of activities and the state’s natural beauty were big draws. From the 1950s on, it became a cliche that if you had the means, once you retired you were heading down to Florida.
That said, Florida may be losing its rep as a premiere retirement destination, as the population explosion during COVID drove up real estate prices. Skyrocketing insurance prices have also dealt a blow, and overall inflation rates have been high.
“As Florida attracts new residents, the rapid population growth also contributes to higher prices,” the Florida Chamber of Commerce said in 2024. “The low cost of living that Florida used to boast has waned, and those who moved here in pursuit of more affordable living could be looking elsewhere.”
In WalletHub’s Best and Worst States to Retire list for 2026, Florida ranked second after Wyoming.
C. A. Bridges, a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida’s service journalism Connect team, contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: SW Florida city nabs high ranking for a best places to retire in U.S.
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