15 West Coast Cities That Are Perfect for Retired Couples on Social Security
Jordan Rosenfeld
6 min read
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While Social Security is a nice safety net if you have other income or savings, for many folks it's barely enough to cover their expenses. The average monthly Social Security benefit is $1,790.56 for an individual, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA). Doubling up for a couple, that's $3,581.12.
If Social Security is all you're living on, this may limit your choice of retirement city as you stretch your dollars to their absolute limit --particularly on the notoriously expensive West Coast.
To determine the best places for couples to live on the West Coast on only their combined Social Security checks, GOBankingRates used cost-of-living data from Sperling's Best Places. The ranking also includes ApartmentList data on the 2023 average rent for a one-bedroom apartment, average monthly cost of basic necessities such as groceries, healthcare, utilities and transportation, as well as each city's livability score, sourced from AreaVibes.
Each city was then given a combined score -- which represents a summation of all those factors -- with lower scores being better. The list is ranked in order of the worst score to the best. Interestingly, Washington state took the most spots, with 9 cities on the list, and Oregon cities took the remaining 5 spots. Read on to learn about the West Coast spots that are most welcoming to retirees living on Social Security.
In Spokane Valley, residents can expect to pay about $398.55 per month in groceries and $530.94 in healthcare costs, both of which fall below the national average.
In Eugene, residents can expect to pay about $286.99 per month in utilities and $603.20 in healthcare costs, both of which fall below the national average.
In Medford, the cheaper expenditures are utilities, at $314.17 per month and transportation at $330.77 a month, both of which fall below the national average.
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12. Tacoma, Washington
2023 average monthly rent: $1,698
Monthly necessities expenditures: $3,387.97
In Tacoma, residents can expect to pay about $404.55 per month in groceries, which are a smidge above the national average, and $554.82 in healthcare costs, which runs almost 12% below the national average.
In Salem, where the livability score is a solid 78, residents will pay under the national average for all essential expenditures except groceries, which are less than a full percentage point above the national average.
Corvallis residents have a livability score of 80, but residents aren't paying through the nose for that good quality of life. Utilities, transportation and healthcare are all under the national average.
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9. Pasco, Washington
2023 average monthly rent: $1,898
Monthly necessities expenditures: $3,475.53
In Pasco, the livability score is a healthy 81. Residents can expect to pay below the national average on all essential expenditures.
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8. Bremerton, Washington
2023 average monthly rent: $1,837
Monthly necessities expenditures: $3,465.17
In Bremerton, where the livability is a nice 82, residents pay more for transportation, at $414.80, than they do for utilities, which average $254.16 per month.
In Gresham, only groceries and transportation costs are above the national average, at around $403 and $432.51 per month, respectively. The livability score is 80.
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6. Olympia, Washington
2023 average monthly rent: $1,877
Monthly necessities expenditures: $3,467.69
In Olympia, which has a nice livability score of 80, groceries run around $405 per month, and utilities are a reasonable $262.63 per month.
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5. Richland, Washington
2023 average monthly rent: $1,719
Monthly necessities expenditures: $3,276.48
In Richland, which has a livability score of 79, all monthly expenditures fall below the national average except for healthcare, which, at $406.15 per month, is 1.6 % above.
Kennewick has relatively low utilities costs, which are $284.87 per month, and transportation costs, which are $344.77 per month, and only grocery costs, at $400.95 is .03% above the national average.
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3. Springfield, Oregon
2023 average monthly rent: $1,591
Monthly necessities expenditures: $3,249.80
Springfield has the third lowest rent on this list and all its monthly expenditures fall below the national average. It has a high livability score of 81.
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2. Spokane, Washington
2023 average monthly rent: $1,500
Monthly necessities expenditures: $3,077.42
Spokane has the second lowest rent on this list, at $1,500, and all other expenditures are below the national average. The livability score is 80.
Yakima takes the No. 1 spot with the lowest rent on the list, $1,271. Its livability score is 78 All monthly expenditures are below the national average, with utilities being almost 22% lower, at $276.05 per month.
Andrew Lisa contributed to the reporting for this article.
Methodology: GOBankingRates determined the best cities in California for a couple to live on only a Social Security check based on the average monthly benefit for retired workers, $1,790.56 ($3,581.12 for a couple), sourced from Social Security Administration. GOBankingRates first isolated all cities in California with a 2023 average monthly rent under $1,900 and a size rank below 1,000. GOBankingRates then used Sperling's Best to find the cost of living index for each listed city, looking at grocery and healthcare index scores. Next, GOBankingRates used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2022 Consumer Expenditure Survey to find the annual expenditure amount for both grocery ("food at home"), utilities, healthcare, and transportation costs for people aged 65 and older in order to find how much a couple 65 and over would spend on necessities in each city on a monthly basis. GOBankingRates then added monthly housing, grocery, utilities, transportation and healthcare costs together to find where a couple 65 and older could survive on their Social Security or less. In order for a city to be qualified for the study the city had to have a livability score above 65 as sourced from AreaVibes. GOBankingRates scored and combined both livability and monthly necessities expenditure, with the lowest score being best, to determine final rankings. All data was collected and is up to date as of September 11, 2023.
