Legacy By Grace

Florida cities dominate 2020 Best Places to Retire rankings

A baker’s dozen of Florida cities rank among the Top 25 for retirees, according to U.S. News & World Report‘s Best Places to Retire in the U.S. in 2020-21 list.

U.S. News analyzed data for the nation’s 150 largest metropolitan areas to assess how well they meet Americans’ retirement needs and expectations.

U.S. News surveyed those nearing retirement age (45-59) and those who are of retirement age (60 or older) for guidance on what matters most to them.

Rankings are based on overall retirement scores calculated for each metro area. The overall score is a weighted average of six indexes: Happiness (22.7%); Housing Affordability (20.2%); Health Care Quality (18.1%); Retiree Taxes (14.6%); Desirability (13.5%); and

Job Market (10.9%). The weighting for each index follows the answers from an August 2020 public survey in which people voted for what they believed was the most important factor to consider when choosing where to live.

Index sources include U.S. Census Bureau data, the Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index, U.S. News Best Hospitals rankings, the Tax Foundation and Wolters Kluwer.

Eileen Cukier
Associate Editor
South Florida Business Journal