U.S. News ranks Sarasota-Bradenton as a best place to live and retire. See the full list
Undoubtedly, the weather and plush sand beaches make Florida one of the most desirable states to live and retire in, but the next question is: which city in Florida is the best to call home?
U.S. News & World Report has released its new lists of Best Places to Live and Best Places to Retire in the United States, and the Bradenton-Sarasota area ranks high on both.
The Sarasota metropolitan area includes the northern part of Mantee County south to North Port and Englewood.
Sarasota climbed in the rankings this year, making it the best place to live in Florida and the fifth best place in the U.S.
Last year, the media company ranked Sarasota as the No. 9 best place to live in the United States out of 150 metropolitan areas. This year, the city has risen to No. 6.
“There was once a time when Sarasota was dismissed as a playground for retirees, but that reputation is slowly changing as more young professionals begin to make it their own,” the report said.
Green Bay, Wisconsin, topped the list.
The list is compiled using data from the United States Census Bureau, the FBI, the United States Department of Labor, and U.S. News’ own internal resources. After that, the cities were assessed based on their quality of life, value, job market and desirability.
Other Florida cities on the list include Naples in sixth, Melbourne 15th, Jacksonville 16th, and Tampa 29th. In total, 14 Florida cities made the list.
On the Best Places to Retire ranking, Sarasota was in 11th place, with Pensacola in third, Tampa fourth, Naples sixth and Daytona Beach seventh.
“Sarasota’s popularity with both the over-65 and under-65 sets means rising home prices, and many people who want to live here are priced out,” the report said.
“For a metro area of its size, Sarasota is not a cheap place to live. In fact, average rental prices for an apartment are even slightly higher in Sarasota than in nearby metropolitan areas like St. Petersburg and Tampa.”
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, ranked first.
The company’s website lists a complete list of all 150 cities.
