10 Most Popular Retirement Towns Announced

Madison CT — August 15 — Topretirements has been curious to see which towns and cities its visitors are most interested in learning more about. The results offer significant insight into what active adults think are the best towns to retire to. The top profile is generally: small town or city, Sunbelt location, vital downtown, usually with a college or university in town.

Asheville North Carolina Scenery

Here are the top 10 most popular retirement towns as tallied by Topretirements.com:

1. Asheville, NC
2. Paris, TN
3. Old Saybrook, CT
4. Oxford, OH
5. Sarasota, FL
6. Halifax, Nova Scotia
7. Prescott, AZ
8. Green Valley, AZ
9. Athens, GA
10. Winston-Salem, NC

North Carolina and Arizona each had 2 towns in the Top 10. The only 2 communities not in the Sunbelt were Old Saybrook, CT and Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada). Arizona is the only state west of the Mississippi to be represented on the current list. Visits were tallied between January 1 and August 1, 2007.

To a certain extent this survey is more about people’s pre-conceptions about where they would like to retire than where they actually might put down their roots. Certain towns and cities (like Paris, TN or Athens, GA) have good word of mouth about their retirement desirability. While other towns are probably just as attractive because of their amenities, cost of living, and climate (e.g.; Leesville, LA or Las Cruces, NM)
without a strong marketing buzz they have to fight harder to get a share of the lucrative retirement market.

Links:
Topretirements news about the best active adult retirement communities
100 Best Places to Retire
Certified Retirement Communities
CNN Money Magazine Best Places to Retire