{"id":240123,"date":"2026-04-21T09:44:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T09:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/240123\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T09:44:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T09:44:12","slug":"this-is-floridas-best-city-to-retire-and-its-not-the-villages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/240123\/","title":{"rendered":"This is Florida\u2019s best city to retire \u2014 and it\u2019s not The Villages"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 U.S. News & World Report has revealed its latest ranking of the best places to retire in 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The study examines over 850 cities across the U.S., scoring them based on factors like housing affordability, quality of life, and proximity to health care.<\/p>\n

While some may point to The Villages as a retirement haven, it technically doesn\u2019t qualify, as the area is instead classified as a census-designated place.<\/p>\n

[BELOW: Why is Gen Z flocking to The Villages?]<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, quality of life scored higher than affordability in the U.S. News weighting survey,\u201d the report reads. \u201cToday\u2019s retirees value overall well-being and connection to community over cost alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the researchers, Florida was a prominent state among the top-ranked cities in the latest report, featuring three locations in the top 10 alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year\u2019s new senior population\/migration metric captures Florida\u2019s enduring popularity among older Americans. The Sunshine State has three cities in this year\u2019s top 10. <\/p>\n

Quiet Homosassa Springs (No. 3), surrounded by the wildlife reserves and waterways of the Gulf Coast, scores high for tax favorability (No. 3) and senior population\/migration (No. 12). Spring Hill (No. 7), 50 miles north of Tampa, offers suburban affordability (No. 119). <\/p>\n

And on the bustling Atlantic coast, south of historic St. Augustine, Palm Coast (No. 9) lures retirees with its warm winters, low taxes (No. 15) and booming senior population (No. 14).\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. News & World Report<\/p>\n

However, the highest-ranked city on last year\u2019s list<\/a>, Naples, didn\u2019t fare quite as well this time around, dropping all the way down to No. 18.<\/p>\n

[BELOW: Here\u2019s what to know about the so-called \u2018Loofah Code\u2019 in The Villages]<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, this year\u2019s ranking of the top 100 cities is as follows:<\/p>\n

RankCityStateOverall Score1MidlandMI6.82WeirtonWV6.63Homosassa SpringsFL6.64The WoodlandsTX6.55SpringTX6.56Rio RanchoNM6.47Spring HillFL6.38AltoonaPA6.39Palm CoastFL6.310LynchburgVA6.311BismarckND6.212VictoriaTX6.213Palm HarborFL6.214Rochester HillsMI6.215TroyMI6.216Sioux FallsSD6.217PearlandTX6.218NaplesFL6.219PensacolaFL6.220ConroeTX6.221Cape CoralFL6.222Bonita SpringsFL6.123FishersIN6.124Port CharlotteFL6.125League CityTX6.126PaducahKY6.127GreenwoodIN6.128San AngeloTX6.129NoblesvilleIN6.130JacksonvilleFL6.131Farmington HillsMI6.132CarmelIN6.133Pinellas ParkFL6.134West Des MoinesIA6.135ColumbusIN6.136LargoFL6.137Flower MoundTX6.138OwensboroKY6.139CheyenneWY6.140Punta GordaFL6.141WyomingMI6.042LexingtonKY6.043ZephyrhillsFL6.044AnkenyIA6.045ApexNC6.046Palm BayFL6.047LivoniaMI6.048CrestviewFL6.049O\u2019FallonMO6.050St. CharlesMO6.051CaryNC6.052ClermontFL6.053BrandonFL6.054MooreOK6.055Broken ArrowOK6.056EdmondOK6.057Eau ClaireWI6.058LeanderTX6.059CasperWY6.060GreenvilleSC6.061WheelingWV6.062Round RockTX6.063ClearwaterFL6.064PinehurstNC5.965St. PetersMO5.966Sugar LandTX5.967WestonFL5.968Missouri CityTX5.969RiverviewFL5.970Rapid CitySD5.971ElizabethtownKY5.972MeridianID5.973NewtonMA5.974Idaho FallsID5.975PflugervilleTX5.976McAllenTX5.977HarrisonburgVA5.978NilesMI5.979High PointNC5.980Bay CityMI5.981CharlestonWV5.982Traverse CityMI5.983SurpriseAZ5.984Council BluffIA5.985Palm Beach GardensFL5.986Sterling HeightsMI5.987SmyrnaGA5.988MelbourneFL5.989Ellicott CityMD5.990Ormond BeachFL5.991TampaFL5.992LakelandFL5.993NoviMI5.994Johnson CityTN5.995South BendIN5.896AlafayaFL5.897Winston-SalemNC5.898SammamishWA5.899JoplinMO5.8100PharrTX5.8Breaking News Alerts<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2025 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 U.S. News & World Report has revealed its latest ranking of the best places to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[315,1339,3683,23822,6919,4717,28,30,29,785,116,2174,7154,5089,5387,1335,3688,9036,17140,1701,1911,14484,135,23821],"class_list":{"0":"post-240123","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-brevard-county","9":"tag-clearwater","10":"tag-clermont","11":"tag-crestview","12":"tag-features","13":"tag-flagler-county","14":"tag-florida","15":"tag-florida-headlines","16":"tag-florida-news","17":"tag-florida-ranked","18":"tag-jacksonville","19":"tag-lake-county","20":"tag-lakeland","21":"tag-melbourne","22":"tag-naples","23":"tag-orange-county","24":"tag-ormond-beach","25":"tag-palm-bay","26":"tag-palm-coast","27":"tag-palm-harbor","28":"tag-polk-county","29":"tag-punta-gorda","30":"tag-tampa","31":"tag-zephyrhills"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}