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Southwest Florida City Earns Golden Status as 2023’s Retirement Hub

By Staff

The Fort Myers River District, and surrounding areas of Fort Myers, offers a plethora of activities for the entire family to enjoy. LEE COUNTY VISITOR & CONVENTION BUREAU

Not all places are equally accommodating locales for the golden years following the 9-to-5 grind. In order to assist the approx. 3.6 million boomers who will turn 65 in 2023 and are thinking about where they want to set down stakes in retirement, we’ve put together a list of the top cities for their golden years.

Naturally, every list of places for retirees should feature The Sunshine State and our list includes five top-20 hotspots from there. And it’s not just because of its beautiful beaches (although they’re obviously a draw.) Access to quality healthcare and finding a community of like-minded people are crucial for aging successfully and that’s exactly what the top-scoring places on our list have in common.

Fort Myers emerges as the best retirement hotspot* in the US due to its desirability, health care quality and happiness.

What makes Fort Myers a top place for retirees to settle down?

• Seniors make up 53 percent of the city’s adult population and residents have a very high average life expectancy at 82.4 years.

• On average, retirement income is $35,388 a year, the 8th-highest among the cities analyzed.

• 9% of the city’s multifamily accommodation is made up of age 55+ communities that are designed specifically to cater to a more relaxed, yet engaging lifestyle.

• While there are 178 healthcare workers per 1,000 residents, Fort Myers boasts the best safety score out of the 100 metros in our ranking.

• Additionally, seniors in Florida also benefit from a pleasant tax climate, with their incomes, benefits and inheritances untaxed, although there is both a sales tax and a property tax

Here’s a link to a heatmap of the top 100 metro areas ranked by their ability to respond to retirees’ needs for quality living environments: https://www.storagecafe.com/blog/best-places-to-retire-in-the-us/#datawrapper-chart-H4EfI. Simply hover over each location to see what pushed it up in the ranking.

*We looked at the US’s 100 largest metro areas, evaluating them for their age-friendliness across criteria ranging from cost of living and access to healthcare to the local tax burden, safety and the availability of recreational activities.