Find a Great Place to Retire

Our cities provide plenty of space to spread out without skimping on health care or other amenities.

- STACY RAPACON AND SANDRA BLOCK

CHOOSING A PLACE TO SPEND YOUR retirement years has never been easy, but these days, it’s particularly challenging. The coronavirus pandemic has caused some retirees to rethink plans to move to urban or suburban walkable communities. But rural communities, while offering plenty of opportunities for social distancing, may not offer adequate health care—which is a priority for many retirees, particularly while COVID-19 infection rates are still high.

Some of these concerns could dissipate after a vaccine becomes widely available. But in the interim, it’s a good idea to reevaluate plans to move—especially if you are considering relocating to an urban area, says Bert Sperling, founder of Best Places (www.bestplaces.net), which ranks cities around the country on a variety of factors. “One of the reasons people are moving to those places is their vibrancy,” he says. “If the restaurants are going away, if it’s difficult to go to shows and museums, then what is the point?”

That doesn’t mean it’s too early to start thinking about where you’d like to retire, and, once you feel comfortable traveling, you’ll probably want to test-drive some destinations. We’ve selected seven cities that offer a combination of good health care, low density, a modest cost of living and low to moderate taxes (see our methodology in the box on page 49). For example, the cost of living in Pensacola, Fla., is below the national average and there are three top-rated hospitals within an hour’s drive or less. The beach is lovely, too.