The Midwest is shaping up to become the hottest region to retire in America. According to a new study from GOBankingRates, 37 Midwestern cities ranked among the 50 safest and most affordable places to retire in America. The average cost of living across these 37 locales does not exceed more than $66,062 annually — and can be as inexpensive as $30,292, depending on where you decide to spend the next chapter.
GOBankingRates determined these 50 places by using the FBI’s 2024 “Offenses Known to Law Enforcement” to calculate each location’s property crime rate and violent crime rates. After scoring these, 500 cities were identified as the safest places. All places with populations under 10,000 were removed. Each city was ranked and sorted by property crime rate, violent crime rate, mortgage cost and expenditure cost.