ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Pennsylvania dominates U.S. News & World Report’s 2024 list of Best Places to Retire in the United States, with seven areas in the Top 10 and Allentown taking fifth place.
U.S. News, a digital-media company, ranked retirement spots based on affordability, health care, desirability, retiree taxes, job market and overall happiness.
Older people in Harrisburg, the state capital, appear to be happy. Their city took first place in the rankings, followed by Reading in Berks County; Lancaster and Scranton.
Allentown came in at No. 5, putting it one ahead of New York City. Next is York, Pennsylvania; No. 8 is the more conventional senior haven of Daytona, Florida; Youngstown, Ohio, came in ninth and Pittsburgh rounded out the top 10.
Affordability played a big role in helping the Keystone State’s numbers. It is the most heavily weighted of the six factors used.
U.S. News said it evaluated the 150 most populous metropolitan areas in the country.
“As retirees consider where they want to spend their golden years, they want areas that not only give them the best bang for the buck, but places where they can live a happy, healthy life,” Beverly Harzog, personal finance expert at U.S. News, said in a statement. “This is why Pennsylvania dominated the Best Places to Retire ranking’s top positions.”
Florida still scored high, with six spots in the top 25. Trenton, New Jersey, moved up 25 positions to No. 20.