2025 Best Cities to Retire
Orlando is WalletHub’s 2025 Best City for Retirement. Image credit: © Songquan Deng | Dreamstime.com
1. Orlando
Orlando retains its title in this year’s ranking, and the Florida playground hasn’t been outside the top four in the past four years.
“Orlando is the best place to retire, in part because it is one of the most tax-friendly cities and is located in a state without estate, inheritance or income taxes,” WalletHub’s Lupo said. “In addition, while Orlando doesn’t have a particularly low cost of living, it is relatively inexpensive when it comes to homemaker services and adult day health care. On top of that, Orlando ranks as the third-best city for recreation, and it provides good access to quality health care.”
It has an especially high number of music venues, fishing facilities, art galleries and adult volunteer activities.
Finally, Orlando ranks 19th when it comes to gerontologists and sixth highest for home health care facilities per capita. It also has the seventh-best hospitals for geriatrics, allowing elderly residents to receive quality care.
2. Scottsdale
Scottsdale. Image credit: © Mark Skalny | Dreamstime.com
The affluent Phoenix-area city rose from 6th place in 2024 up to the second spot in the 2025 rankings (it was also ranked second in 2023) in large part because it has an abundance of activities popular with retirees.
Scottsdale ranks at the top of the country when it comes to adult volunteer activities, art galleries and public and municipal golf courses per capita. Tax-friendliness is another good reason to retire in Scottsdale. As it’s located in Arizona, it has no estate or inheritance taxes and no income taxes.
The city ranks fourth in the nation for mild weather, and is second among the most caring cities.
3. Minneapolis
Minneapolis. Image credit: © F11photo | Dreamstime.com
Despite frigid winters, Minneapolis remains a perennial staple in WalletHub’s top 10 cities for retirement.
Minneapolis has one of the most elderly-friendly labor markets in the country, meaning that it has a large percentage of jobs that are easy to perform even for elderly residents. Many retired people choose to continue to work for some extra income, or simply to have something to keep them occupied. There are plenty of opportunities to do that in Minneapolis, since over 22% of the working population is over age 65.
It has the eighth-best hospital system, along with a high number of nursing homes and gerontologists per capita. Minneapolis ranks eighth in the nation for the number of recreation and senior centers, offering retirees ample opportunities for community engagement and activity.
Rest of the Top 10
Miami. Image Credit: © Daniel Korzeniewski | Dreamstime.com
4. Miami
5. Tampa
6. Atlanta
7. Fort Lauderdale
8. Cincinnati
9. Madison, WI
10. Casper, WY
Next Page: 2025 Worst Cities to Retire
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