As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
New: Community Explorer. Discover Your Perfect Community Quickly Based on Lifestyle, Amenities, and Unit Type.
Try It NOWCategory: Best Retirement Towns and States
February 12, 2016 (Updated Oct 2020)– In looking for your best place to retire it is nice to know that there are some states that really want you. They have taken concrete steps to make themselves more desirable for retirees. These states (and many towns) know that the homes retirees…
more...
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
Note: This is Part 2 in a series. Part 1, “Can a Yankee Find Happiness in the South”, came out in 2010 and has generated an amazing 241 comments so far. The topic continues to be of interest: there have already been 52 comments made so far this year!…
more...
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
December 9, 2015 — For a surprising number of baby boomers the ideal retirement is not in an active community with a golf course, tennis courts, swimming pool, or clubhouse. Neither is it a small town, nor a postcard pretty burg with a college as its centerpiece. Instead, many surprise…
more...
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
November 22, 2015 — Over the years we have heard from many of our Members who were considering retirement in the Blue Ridge Mountains. We know there are many more who are tempted by the amazing scenery, mild 4 season climate, and outstanding recreational opportunities in this area. So it…
more...
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
November 7, 2015 -- In this installment of our "Dueling Retirement States" we compare and analyze retirement in the warm states that surround the Gulf of Mexico. Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas are better known and appreciated by residents of the South, while Florida is popular with retirees from all over the nation and Canada. See Further Reading at end for links to the other comparisons in the series.
Do warm sandy beaches call to mind your dream retirement lifestyle? The states that border the Gulf of Mexico - Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas - offer many advantages for retirement living. For one, they are almost always much less expensive than either the West or East Coasts. They have some of the warmest winters in the U.S. They represent 5 of the lowest tax states in the nation. And they are generally uncrowded and less congested than many other retirement locations.
The attraction for many folks is the opportunity to enjoy beautiful beaches that go from the West Coast of Florida all the way to southern Texas, where the Lone Star State runs into Mexico. In this article we will compare and contrast these 5 Gulf Coast states: Alabama and Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana,and Texas. (links go to our mini-retirement guides to each state). Population and income data is from American Fact Finder-U.S. Census Bureau.
A Few Facts
Texas, with its close to 27 million population, is by far the more populous of the 5 states. Florida's total estimated 2014 population increased to just under 19.9 million, adding 1 million people from 2010. Its West Coast is not as crowded as its East Coast, where more of the population lives. There were an estimated 4.8 million people in Alabama, 4.6 million in Louisiana, and 3 million in Mississippi during 2014.
more...
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
September 15, 2015 — Lists of great places to retire are a commonplace these days – but it is novel to see one which includes places that haven’t been mentioned before. Money has done just that with their list of “Best Places to Retire for 2015“. Their complete…
more...
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
August 6, 2015 — We are always pleased to see a “Best” list that is actually based on more than just someone’s personal opinion. 100 Most Livable Small Towns from Livability.com, which is based on overall livability, is a great example. To come up with their list…
more...
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
July 21, 2015 — We just updated one of our earlier articles, “10 More Affordable (and Nice) Places to Retire“. While we knew we have written on this topic several times, we were surprised to find out that we have published at least 5 different “affordable” lists. So we…
more...
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
-- This article continues our Dueling Retirement States series with another regional comparison. See Further Reading at end for links to other comparisons in the series --
June 22, 2015 -- Are you tempted by the lure of mountains for your dream retirement lifestyle? The Mountain States of the U.S. - Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming - continue to experience amazing population growth, including from people of retirement age. Colorado's population, for example, grew by over 1 million people between 2000 and 2014, much of which was net in-migration. Many of these mountain states' new residents are 20 and 30 somethings who have come for jobs in these growing economies. But another demographic segment flocking to the region for its beauty, outdoor recreation, and in many cases, to be near their adult children, is the huge baby boomer group. The attraction for many of these folks is the opportunity to enjoy magnificent mountain ranges like the Beartooths in Montana, the Sawtooths in Idaho, and the many sub-mountain ranges of the Rockies in Colorado. In this article we will compare and contrast these 6 mountain states: Colorado and Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming (links go to our mini-retirement guides to each state). Population and income data is from American Fact Finder-U.S. Census Bureau.
A Few Facts
Colorado is by far the more populous of the 5 states. The 2014 population there increased to just over 5.35 million from 5 million in 2010, which is a 6.5% increase in just 4 years. There were 2.8 million people in the second most populous state, Nevada, up from 2.7 million in 2010 (+5.1%). Wyoming had the smallest population of the six, which stood at 584,000 in 2014, a 3.6% gain from 2010. Utah enjoyed a significant population increase from 2010 to 2014, 6.5%, double the overall U.S. growth rate. Its population estimate was 2,942,000 in 2014. Idaho had 1,634,000 people in 2014, up 4.3% from 2010. The Montana population was 1.024 million in 2014, up from 989,000 in 2010 (+3.5%).
more...
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
June 6, 2015 — This is part 2 of our series on the “Funky Towns of Florida”. Part 1 explored unusual towns of this stripe in the Northern, Central, and Western reaches of the Sunshine State. In this edition we concentrate on the Eastern and Southern regions, plus one…
more...
