BOSTON (WHDH) - Four Massachusetts cities rank among the 10 best places to retire in the United States, according to a new report published Tuesday.
ChamberofCommerce.org says its 2019 ranking of the optimal cities for retirees is based on variables that cover aspects such as cost of living, crime levels, and quality of life.
“Although freedom increases with retirement, income tends to do the opposite,” the website said. “This report aims to address something that most retirees take into consideration: finding the perfect location to maximize happiness and funds. Retirement is all about planning: how and where does one want to spend their golden years?”
After crunching statistics from the U.S. Census, FBI crime databases, and the American Association of Medical Colleges, researchers determined that New Bedford, Massachusetts, was the most optimal city for retirees in the country.
The top 10 cities were as follows:
- New Bedford, Massachusetts
- Quincy, Massachusetts
- Warwick, Rhode Island
- New York, New York
- Fall River, Massachusetts
- Troy, Michigan
- Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Livonia, Michigan
- Cranston, Rhode Island
- Largo, Florida
Variables considered in the ranking included the population percentage over the age of 65 (as well as how many of those are retirees), overall poverty rates, median housing costs, percentage of graduates with bachelor’s degree or higher, and crime-related statistics per city (violent and non-violent crime rates, and available officers per capita).
ChamberofCommerce.org says it excluded cities with populations under 10,000 and considered a total of 435 cities.
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