If you’re an Illinois resident looking for a place to settle down post-retirement, look no further than home. According to the newly released list of the best cities to retire in the following year, three cities from Illinois meet the requirements to be seen as perfect places to be a senior in.
If you’re retiring in the foreseeable future, you’re likely considering a change of scenery, like moving to a different state or city. And, this is often a thing seniors consider in order to save some money. Depending on the location you choose to retire in, you may save a lot of money on costly factors like housing, healthcare, or taxes. But, the big question remains, “where to move?”. Well, the U.S. News has a list of places to help those future retirees to plan a smart move.
Every year, the U.S. News ranks 150 places to retire in the US, considering various factors like healthcare, happiness, and housing affordability and how these cities meet Americans’ expectations for retirement. This year, U.S. News has released a new list that compares the 150 metropolitan areas with the most significant population in the US as potential locations to move as a retiree in 2024.
Source: unsplash.com
Contents
The Best Places to Retire 2024 Ranking
The Best Places to Retire ranking from the U.S. News and World Report is an analysis that can help many people decide where to spend their retirement years and make it easier for them to cope with retirement financially. The analysis compares 150 cities across the US and includes all sorts of data that can influence one’s retirement, like the job market, access to quality health care, happiness, housing affordability, and retiree taxes. The report uses all these factors and weights them based on a U.S. News online survey of people age 45 and older about the preferences they have about retirement.
In 2024, Florida dominated the list of best places to retire, with eight of the top 10 cities. This means that Florida made it the best place to retire in the US for the second year in a row. The state ranks as the best place to retire in the US this year, too, likely thanks to its high score obtained for desirability combined with the state’s reasonable cost of living.
Sarasota, Naples, Daytona Beach, Melbourne, Tampa, Fort Myers, Port St. Lucie, and Pensacola are all Florida cities that made it to the first ten spots as ideal retirement locations in the US.
Source: patch.com
The three Illinois cities that made it to the list
Illinois also gave U.S. News’s list three locations considered great for future retirees: Chicago, Peoria, and Rockford. So, if you’re a resident of Illinois, your move to a better retirement is a lot closer to home.
Now, let’s see how the scores broke down for these three Illinois cities.
- Chicago ranked 87th on the best places to retire list. The city got an overall score of 6.3 out of 10. Chicago had a desirability score of 7.7, a job market score of 6.4, a score of 6.3 in terms of quality of life, and a net migration score of 49.
- Peoria ranked 92nd obtaining a score of 6.5 out of 10. The city got a score of 5.6 in terms of desirability, 8.1 for value, 6.3 for its job market, 6.7 for the quality of life there, and 4.3 for net migration.
- Rockford ranked 114th on the list, with an overall score of 5.8 out of 10. In terms of desirability, the city obtained a score of 5.4, 7.4 for value, a score of 5 for the job market here, the quality of life received a score of 5.8, and the net migration factor brought the city a score of 4.8.
Source: pinterest.com
What to look for in a retirement location?
When retirement is just ahead, you may consider relocating to a retirement spot that matches your interests and budget better as a strategy to improve your quality of life and even save some money.
U.S. News’s list of best places to retire does give you some great insights into what destinations are ideal retirement locations. Yet, if you’re considering doing your own research searching for a place to spend your retirement years, find out that there are a few factors to consider when screening locations.
Here’s what to look for when looking for your ideal retirement spot:
Health care services accessibility
Like it or not, it’s a given that as you get older, your health will deteriorate and require more medical services over time.
As the experts from MedicareWire explain, “Retirement comes with aging, and aging comes with various health conditions. It can be something as simple as arthritis or as severe as diabetes. Either way, as a retiree, you want to know that when such problems arise, you have access to high-quality healthcare providers and can also afford them.”
Source: usatoday.com
Affordable housing
Moving for retirement is a very personal decision with a unique course for each retiree. Some may want to secure a home in their new location, while some don’t necessarily consider becoming a homeowner once more. Either way, you likely don’t want to spend all your life’s savings on rent or debt,
So, it’s a good idea to look at the numbers before deciding to move to a new location. You may discover that it makes far more economic sense to stay where you live than to move to a new place with high housing prices.
A strong economy
As of February 2019, data shows that more than 20% of US adults aged 65 or older were working or looking for work. What if you, too, decide that it isn’t just the time to finish your career? If that’s the case, then you should consider moving to a place with a strong economy where you won’t struggle to find a new job if you plan to continue working for a couple more years.
