What’s the Best and Worst U.S. City to Retire In? See Where Atlanta Ranks

WalletHub just released their list of best and worst U.S. cities to spend your retirement. Using metrics across major categories such as Affordability, Activities, Quality of Life, and Healthcare, the article ranks more than 80 cities allowing readers to discover a cities rank based on the category most important to them.

With the cost of living increasing across most U.S. locations, a retirees choice of the city to retire in can have a huge impact on how that retirement is spent.

WalletHub’s Best & Worst Places to Retire (2024) ranks Atlanta as 10th overall across all categories. Bringing up the score significantly for Atlanta is the Activities ranking, where the city placed #6 overall. With Atlanta’s proximity to the ocean and mountains, as well as the abundance of golf courses, award-winning restaurants and other activities, the #6 rank seems to make sense.

Chip Lupo, WalletHub Analyst says “It’s important to choose wisely when picking where to retire, as many retirees are on a fixed income. As a result, the best cities for retired people are those that minimize taxes and expenses, as well as have good opportunities for retirees to continue paid work for extra income, if they choose to do so. In addition, the top cities provide high-quality health care and offer plenty of enjoyable activities for retirees.”

Other Atlanta rankings include Affordability (#70), Quality of Life (#120) and Healthcare (#40) .

According to WalletHub, the #1 U.S. city for retirees is Orlando, Florida, followed by Miami, Florida and Minneapolis, Minnesota. The individual category rankings vary wildly between these top cities. For instance, Orlando’s best categories are Affordability and Activities, while Minneapolis and Miami score fairly low on the Affordability scale.