| If you're thinking about where to retire, you've | | | | and State College, Pa.) |
| probably stumbled on at least one of those Best | | | | What's not good: U.S. News doesn't reveal its data, |
| Places to Retire lists online, in magazines, or in books. | | | | so you can't tell whether the magazine's criteria |
| But which lists are credible? And which suit your | | | | would match yours. Some lists are anecdotal and |
| circumstances? To find out, reviewed them and | | | | random: Best Retirement Places for Foodies, for |
| came away with surprising results. | | | | instance, came by asking "a handful of chefs and |
| Since you shouldn't choose a place to live using | | | | culinary experts" for recommendations and |
| outdated information, our analysis of | | | | surprisingly includes McMinnville, Ore. A few choices |
| retirement-places lists excludes any created before | | | | seem way off: Clearwater, Fla., is a great place for |
| 2008. That left five leading raters: U.S. News, Money, | | | | "winter sports nuts?" |
| Smart Money, TopRetirements.com, and | | | | Best for: Choosing a place based on one factor that |
| RetirementLiving.com; together, they name 454 | | | | matters a lot to you. |
| places. | | | | rating: 3 Stars |
| The key thing to remember: The rankings vary | | | | Money |
| widely in the scope of the places they consider and | | | | How it rates places: Money created its three lists by |
| the statistical rigor they bring to their ranking. Some | | | | selecting discrete criteria - towns near water, |
| of the rankers, such as and RetirementLiving.com, | | | | affordable homes, and long life expectancy - and |
| consider a wide variety of reasonable criteria to get | | | | layering on additional data. |
| at a more rounded picture of "livability." Others focus | | | | What's good: The 6 Terrific Towns on the Water list |
| on one or two key factors to produce a very | | | | factors in livability factors such as crime, weather, |
| narrow sense of what makes a place "best." U.S. | | | | and activities. (Winners: Dunedin, Fla.; Sequim, Wash.; |
| News, for instance, lists best-retirement places | | | | St. Joseph, Mich.; Beaufort, S.C.; Durango, Colo.; and |
| ranging from ones that lean Republican (hello, | | | | Marble Falls, Texas.) The Affordable Homes winners |
| Cincinnati) to ones filled with parks (Albuquerque). | | | | have Google Maps showing homes for sale and the |
| Perhaps the best way to use the "best retirement | | | | prices of recent sales. Winners on all three lists have |
| places" rankings is to start with a narrowly focused | | | | data displays showing how they fare on key |
| list (such as cities dotted with golf courses or ones | | | | measures such as weather, property taxes, crime, |
| with affordable homes) and find a handful of potential | | | | movie theaters, and libraries, as well as how the |
| winning destinations. Then, use other lists and Web | | | | areas compare with Money's Best Places Averages. |
| sites to see how these places stack up on broader | | | | What's not good: The Best Places for a Long Life |
| criteria, such as livability or recession resistance. | | | | and Affordable Homes lists don't include livability data. |
| Here's how these "best places to retire" raters rate | | | | The Long Life list's criteria seem strange: Counties |
| on MoneyWatch.com's scale of one to five stars. | | | | with the longest life expectancy at birth but whose |
| (Another site, FindUtopia.com, doesn't compile | | | | median family income was not more than 5 percent |
| rankings but has a wealth of useful information about | | | | below the state median. |
| choosing a place to retire.) | | | | Best for: Anyone looking for pleasant towns near |
| How it rates places: This site's Best 25 Places to | | | | water or places with either low house prices or long |
| Retire list is essentially a popularity contest. It includes | | | | life expectancies. |
| the towns with the most online visits among the 208 | | | | rating: 3 Stars |
| featured at The site also sells an eBook of its Top | | | | Smart Money |
| 100 Retirement Towns ($12.95). | | | | How it rates places: Smart Money's article, "7 Places |
| What's good: Site editors and members of the public | | | | to Retire During an Economic Downturn," had experts |
| have visited the winning places. Zagat-like descriptions | | | | choose "recession-proof" places. |
| note the negatives, too. So although No. 1 Asheville, | | | | What's good: College towns typically are |
| N.C., gets high marks for climate, water activities, | | | | recession-resistant, so winners Gainesville, Fla., |
| downtown, and senior housing, a commenter warns | | | | (University of Florida) and Ithaca, N.Y. (Cornell |
| that "overdevelopment is coming." Top places include | | | | University), whose unemployment rates are around 6 |
| the familiar (Sarasota, Fla., and San Diego) as well as | | | | percent, make sense. |
| the not-so-familiar (Paris, Tenn., and Green Valley, | | | | What's not good: The list needed more rigorous |
| Ariz.). | | | | criteria. Two winners - Portland, Ore., and Orlando, |
| What's not good: The fairly small database of places | | | | Fla., - are facing rough times with double-digit |
| limits possible winners. You can't sort the list to find | | | | unemployment rates. |
| places matching your own criteria. | | | | Best for: People who care most about healthy local |
| Best for: Finding places that other retirees like. | | | | economies. |
| rating: 4 Stars. | | | | rating: 1 Star |
| U.S. News | | | | How it rates places: This site, from Retirement Living |
| How it rates places: U.S. News doesn't have one | | | | Information Center, lists 210 Top Retirement |
| grand Best Places to Retire list. Instead, working | | | | Destinations in 33 states, based on its research and |
| primarily with Onboard Informatics, a data-gathering | | | | visits. The site also lists 94 Great College Towns for |
| firm, the magazine regularly churns out narrowly | | | | Retirement in 38 states. |
| defined Top 10 lists from its database of 2,000 | | | | What's good: Each Retirement Destination listing is |
| retirement places. Its latest lists: Healthiest Places; | | | | information-rich and packed with related links, saving |
| Low-Tax Places; Places for Swinging Singles to Retire; | | | | time if you want learn more about an area's arts, |
| Cities for Job-Seeking Retirees; Brainiest Places; | | | | recreation, senior programs, hospitals, weather, or |
| Outdoorsy Places; Places for Golf Nuts; Places for | | | | taxes. |
| Winter Sports Nuts; Places for Football Fans; | | | | What's not good: There are no rankings, so every |
| Greenest Places; Places for Foodies; Places for | | | | place seems equally "great." Hawaii has no listings, and |
| Democrats and Republicans. | | | | many Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states are left out. |
| What's good: The data-driven picks are reasonable | | | | You need to pay $24.95 to gain access to the |
| and worth reading if you're looking for places | | | | detailed Top Retirement reports, which omit |
| matching their screens. The Best Cities for | | | | drawbacks. The College Town list is just a series of |
| Job-Seeking Retirees list, created with | | | | links to the towns' and colleges' sites. |
| RetirementJobs.com, is especially timely. (Winners: | | | | Best for: Learning about places already popular with |
| Bellevue, Wash.; Bismarck, N.D.; Charleston, W.Va.; | | | | retirees. |
| Charlottesville, Va.; Ithaca, N.Y.; Huntsville, Ala.; | | | | rating:1 Star.. |
| Lubbock, Texas; Oklahoma City; Rochester, Minn.; | | | | |