10 Best Places To Retire In The USA

Beach Fun

Whenever experts set out to find “great places to retire,” they tend to dwell on cost of living and health care.

In this list the cities all have good medical care and are affordable but also include a focus on a lifestyle where there is a balance between outdoor recreation, cultural and educational institutions.

1. Austin, Texas – Population 790,400. Beautiful outdoors, lakes, swimming holes, 10 months of warm weather although hot in the Summer. Music, opera, symphony, ballet. Good medical facilities, no state income tax. Medium home price is $235,000.

2. Clearwater, Fla. – Population 107,700.  Midway up the Florida peninsula on the Gulf of Mexico. Postcard perfect coastal resort town. Real estate prices are down about 50 percent with a two-bedroom condo going for about $200,000. Near bigger cities like St. Petersburg, for fine art museums, orchestra. Baseball teams train in nearby Tampa.

3. Fort Collins, Colo. – Population 144,000 with 30 miles of bike roads. Summers are for biking, hiking, camping, golfing and boating. Winters are for skiing. Highly regarded microbreweries. Medium home price is $221,400.

4. Marquette, Mich. – Population 21,300. You must like snow, average 141 inches of snow. Summer beaches along Lake Superior or water sports. Top hospitals and medium home price is $130,000.

5. Pittsburgh, Pa. – Population just over 300,000. Financial/high tech/health-care based economy. Sports, shopping, restaurants, galleries, arts, museums, universities and top-notch hospitals. Medium home price was $112,000 in August 2011.

6. Portland, Ore. – Population 583,800. Forty breweries, coffee houses, laid-back, easy going lifestyle, craft shops, excellent restaurants, nightclubs. Medium home price is $263,300.

7. Santa Fe, N.M. – Population 144,170. Giant cultural heritage, opera, arts, museums, mild climate, with winter sports nearby in Sangre de Cristo. Medium home price is  $380,000.

8. Walnut Creek, Calif. – Population 64.000. Twenty miles from San Francisco, parks, bike trails, golf courses, theater and arts center,  mass transit but medium home price is $430,000.

9. Washington, D.C. – Population 601, 700. Good mass transit, top museums, like the Smithsonian, excellent performance arts center, Kennedy Center, mild climate. Drawback: medium home price is $450,000.

10. Winston-Salem, N.C. – Population 229,600. Good mass transit, universities, arts and medium home price is $137,000