GOBankingRates
50 Best (and Worst) Places To Retire If You Have No Savings
Sun rises in downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Sun rises in downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Cameron Huddleston
36 min read

When it comes to saving for retirement, many Americans have a lot of catching up to do. A GOBankingRates survey found that 42% of adults have less than $10,000 saved, which isn’t enough to live comfortably for even one year in retirement. Or is it?

If you have little to no savings and will likely have to rely on Social Security benefits, don’t assume that you won’t be able to have a comfortable retirement. There are places in the U.S. where you can get by without much in retirement savings.

To identify those places, GOBankingRates analyzed the 300 largest cities in the U.S. and narrowed the list to 150 cities with a large population of adults ages 65 and older. These cities were then ranked based on the following factors:

  • Average home price and home price changes over five years, sourced from Zillow

  • Whether the state taxes Social Security benefits, sourced from the AARP

  • Relative buying power based on the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’ price parity index, which expresses state and metro price levels of goods as a percentage of the national level

  • County health index (where 1 is the healthiest), based on the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute’s county health rankings, which measure length of life and quality of life

  • Violent and property crime rates, sourced from Neighborhood Scout

  • Livability score, sourced from AreaVibes

On the whole, the best places to retire with no savings tend to be more affordable and relatively safe, and they have larger populations of older adults. The worst places for retirement tend to have a more expensive cost of living or other strikes against them, such as high crime rates.

Last updated: Nov. 23, 2020

50 Best Places To Retire With No Savings

Affordability is the key reason that these cities are the top 50 places to retire if you have no savings. Almost all have an average home price under $300,000 and score below 100 on the price parity index, which means the relative buying power in that city is better than the national average. Plus, retirees can hang on to more of their income in these places because Social Security income isn’t taxed.

Not only are these cities affordable places to live, but they’re also safe. Most experience fewer than 10 violent crimes per 1,000 residents and fewer than 50 property crimes per 1,000 residents.

Dayton, Ohio brick path in park, Five Rivers Metropark, Metropark, flower planters in park.
Dayton, Ohio brick path in park, Five Rivers Metropark, Metropark, flower planters in park.

50. Dayton, Ohio

  • Percentage of population 65 and older: 12.56%

  • Average home price: $66,758

  • 1-year home price change: 0.82%

  • 5-year home price change: 13.11%

  • Tax on Social Security: No

  • Price parity index: 89

  • County health index: 0.92

  • Violent crime rate per 1,000 residents: 8.78

  • Property crime rate per 1,000 residents: 43.61

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