20 Top Neighborhoods to Spend Your Golden Years
If you’re planning your retirement and trying to figure out where the best place to retire is, you might want to consider a large city. It’s true that the cost of living can be high in some metro areas, but the long list of amenities that they offer can make them more livable. The key, though, is choosing the right neighborhood when retiring to a big city.
To find the best neighborhoods for retirees across the U.S., GOBankingRates looked at the 18 largest cities in the country, then identified neighborhoods that had a low median listing price, a high livability rating and a high percentage of adults over age 65. A golden retirement is possible if you can find the best places to retire in the suburbs.
Last updated: May 14, 2019
20. Rancho Charleston — Las Vegas
Percentage of residents over 65: 13.9 percent
Livability score: 69
The Rancho Charleston neighborhood in Las Vegas got a perfect score from AreaVibes for its wide variety of local amenities. The neighborhood also got a high score for its affordable housing — the median listing price in the area is $289,900, which is about $10,000 lower than the median listing price for Las Vegas as a whole.
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19. North Beacon Hill — Seattle
Percentage of residents over 65: 16.4 percent
Livability score: 64
North Beacon Hill is home to the Beacon Hill commercial district, as well as a light rail and major transportation hubs, according to Seattle Magazine. The Beacon Hill area is also the site of Jefferson Park, a 7-acre urban community farm known as the Beacon Food Forest and numerous theatrical events put on by Beacon Arts. The median listing price in the neighborhood is $659,500.
18. Garfield Ridge — Chicago
Percentage of residents over 65: 15.9 percent
Livability score: 65
The Chicago Tribune has called Garfield Ridge a neighborhood “where suburbia meets city.” Part of the area’s charm is its variety of small, locally owned businesses, which helps give it an old-time feel. Most of the housing is single-family homes, and the median listing price in Garfield Ridge is $274,900 — $50,000 less than in Chicago as a whole.
17. Deer Valley — Phoenix
Percentage of residents over 65: 11.1 percent
Livability score: 76
The median listing price in Deer Valley is $259,900, which is about $20,000 less than the median home price for Phoenix as a whole. The neighborhood got a perfect score from AreaVibes for its local amenities, and a high score for weather as well — but be prepared for some serious heat if you live there, as the average summer temperature is 90 degrees.
16. Charlotte Park — Nashville, Tennessee
Percentage of residents over 65: 16 percent
Livability score: 71
This quiet neighborhood is located about five minutes west of downtown Nashville, and has been becoming increasingly popular in recent years thanks to its affordable housing, the Tennessean reported. The median home listing price in Charlotte Park is $297,400, but in Nashville as a whole, it’s $326,950.
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15. South Manchaca — Austin, Texas
Percentage of residents over 65: 11.8 percent
Livability score: 77
This Austin neighborhood is tied with one other neighborhood on GOBankingRates’ list for the fifth-highest livability score. South Manchaca got a perfect score from AreaVibes due to all of its available local amenities.
14. Bay Terraces — San Diego
Percentage of residents over 65: 12.4 percent
Livability score: 65
Bay Terraces got high scores from AreaVibes for its local amenities, low crime rates and near-perfect weather. Homes are much cheaper in this neighborhood than in San Diego as a whole: The median listing price in Bay Terraces is $415,000, and San Diego’s median listing price is $685,000.
13. Mission Hills — Los Angeles
Percentage of residents over 65: 14.8 percent
Livability score: 67
Mission Hills is located in the North Valley of Los Angeles and is home to the historic San Fernando Mission as well as the Andres Pico Adobe, which is the second-oldest adobe home in the city. The median listing price in the historic neighborhood is $550,000 — $249,000 less than the median listing price for Los Angeles as a whole.
12. Great Northwest — San Antonio
Percentage of residents over 65: 11.8 percent
Livability score: 84
The median listing price in Great Northwest is $166,000 — not only is that $70,535 less than the median listing price in San Antonio as a whole, but it’s also the lowest listing price of all the neighborhoods in this study.
AreaVibes gave Great Northwest high grades for amenities, cost of living and housing, and the neighborhood has the third-highest livability score in this ranking.
11. Sunland — Los Angeles
Percentage of residents over 65: 15.9 percent
Livability score: 70
Located in Los Angeles’ North Valley, the neighborhood of Sunland has a median home listing price of $565,000, which is $234,000 less than the median listing price for all of Los Angeles. And the neighborhood lives up to its name, with high scores from AreaVibes for its warm, sunny weather.
Overall, Los Angeles is one of the warmest U.S. cities to retire in — but it’s also one of the most expensive, a separate GOBankingRates study found.
10. West Roxbury — Boston
Percentage of residents over 65: 18.5 percent
Livability score: 73
Although West Roxbury is located within Boston city limits, it has everything you’d want in a suburb, including “streets lined with post-war ranch houses, an upscale grocery store and even an Italian steakhouse,” Boston Magazine reported. The neighborhood is mostly single-family homes, and the median listing price is a relatively affordable $572,450. To put that price in perspective, the median listing price for all of Boston is $709,950.
9. Wolf Creek — Dallas
Percentage of residents over 65: 15.4 percent
Livability score: 74
Wolf Creek has the second-lowest median listing price of all the neighborhoods on this list at $169,900. Not only that, but it’s also significantly cheaper than the greater Dallas area as a whole, which has a median listing price of $385,000.
AreaVibes gave the neighborhood perfect scores for amenities and housing, and high scores for its affordable cost of living as well.
8. Coral Way — Miami
Percentage of residents over 65: 20.3 percent
Livability score: 77
With over a fifth of its residents aged 65 and older, Coral Way is the neighborhood with the fourth-highest percentage of seniors compared to the other areas on this list. It is also tied with South Manchaca for the fifth-highest livability score, with high marks for local amenities, low crime and mild weather.
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7. Loretto — Jacksonville, Florida
Percentage of residents over 65: 15 percent
Livability score: 87
You can get a home in Loretto for an average of $185,000, which is the fourth-lowest median listing price of all the neighborhoods on this list. In the city of Jacksonville, the median listing price is $210,000.
The neighborhood is home to a variety of local amenities and has low crime rates as well as great weather, which earned it the second-highest livability score on this list. Its low housing costs and low crime rates make Loretto one of the safest and most affordable places to retire on this list.
6. Kingwood — Houston
Percentage of residents over 65: 14.6 percent
Livability score: 89
This master-planned community in northeast Houston might appeal to retirees because it offers a variety of housing options, from condos and multifamily residences to small and large single-family homes. It has miles of greenbelt trails, golf courses, parks, music venues, a farmers market and more.
Kingwood has the highest livability score on this list thanks to its amenities and weather.
5. Torresdale — Philadelphia
Percentage of residents over 65: 26.3 percent
Livability score: 72
The median listing price in Torresdale is $174,900, which is the third-lowest of all the neighborhoods on this list. It’s also low compared to the greater Philadelphia area as a whole, which has a median list price of $214,900. In addition, the neighborhood has the third-highest percentage of the population that’s 65 and older.
4. Bayside West — Tampa, Florida
Percentage of residents over 65: 19.3 percent
Livability score: 82
This Tampa neighborhood has the fifth-highest percentage of residents over 65 of all the areas included in GOBankingRates’ list. It also has the fourth-highest livability score, with perfect scores for local amenities and low crime rates.
Compared to the other neighborhoods on this list, Bayside West is one of the most affordable places to retire near the beach.
3. Forest Hills — New York
Percentage of residents over 65: 18.7 percent
Livability score: 74
Forest Hills is a planned garden city in Queens, N.Y., and is the most exclusive area in the borough, according to Trip Savvy. The neighborhood boasts easy access to other parts of New York City, great restaurants and relatively affordable housing. The median listing price in the area is $495,000, and for New York City as a whole, it’s $825,000.
2. Windsor — Denver
Percentage of residents over 65: 27.3 percent
Livability score: 67
The median listing price in Windsor is $224,900, which is less than half of the median listing price for the city of Denver as a whole. It’s the neighborhood with the fifth-lowest median listing price on this list, and it’s also the neighborhood with the second-highest percentage of residents over 65.
1. Spuyten Duyvil — New York
Percentage of residents over 65: 28.1 percent
Livability score: 70
This mostly residential neighborhood in the Bronx borough of New York City is a mix of high-rise apartments, pools and gyms; smaller co-ops; and single-family homes at prices lower than what you’ll find in other parts of New York City, according to The New York Times. It’s extremely livable thanks to the high number of amenities nearby, a relatively low crime rate and a high median household income.
Spuyten Duyvil is also the neighborhood with the highest percentage of the population that’s 65 and older compared to the others on this list.
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Cameron Huddleston contributed to the reporting for this article.
Methodology: To determine the best neighborhoods to retire in across America, GOBankingRates began by pulling neighborhood data from Zillow, and only examined the 18 biggest cities in the U.S. for this study. Two neighborhoods were included from Los Angeles and New York because they are the two biggest cities. GOBankingRates looked at neighborhoods with the lowest median listing price and found the livability score and percentage of residents ages 65 and over for each neighborhood. In order for a neighborhood to be considered for this study, it had to have a livability score of 70 or higher, sourced from AreaVibes, and a resident population of people 65 and older of 10 percent or greater, sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. The neighborhoods are ranked by the difference between the given cities’ and neighborhoods’ median housing prices, by the percentage of seniors 65 and older, and by each neighborhood’s livability score.
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Best Neighborhoods To Retire in Across America
