AKRON, Ohio — The personal finance resource site, GOBankingRates, has put together a list of the "15 Best Cities To Retire on $2,500 a Month" in the United States.
The list features three Northeast Ohio cities, including the one at the top spot.
GOBankingRates put Akron on top of its list. Here are the numbers that made up the score:
- Monthly mortgage: $699
- Monthly necessities: $1,662
- Total monthly expenditures: $2,361
- Livability: 81
While Akron wasn't the least expensive location on the list, GOBanking Rates says "The Rubber City" is number one largely due to its livability score of 81, which was the highest score in the study.
Travel + Leisure, noting the GOBankingRates study, had this to say about Akron: "With a population of 191,481, it's a mid-sized city with plenty to offer, from attractions like the Tudor Revival manor house Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens and the Akron Art Museum, as well as proximity to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Akron is also just 45 minutes from Cleveland, where you'll find the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Cleveland Orchestra, and major league sports teams."
But wait, there's more.
Checking in at No. 8 is Cleveland, which was the largest city on the list. "Living there would give retirees a lot of options of things to do. It’s one of four cities where the monthly necessities cost less than $1,700 a month," GOBanking Rates noted. Here are Cleveland's numbers from the study:
- Monthly mortgage: $622
- Monthly necessities: $1,690
- Total monthly expenditures: $2,312
- Livability: 70
Alliance is the No. 14 city in the list of the best to retire on $2,500 a month. "While it has the highest average monthly mortgage cost, the cost of monthly necessities — the lowest on the list — helped Alliance to gain a spot in the 15 best cities to retire on $2,500 a month," GOBanking Rates said of the Stark County city.
- Monthly mortgage: $864
- Monthly necessities: $1,624
- Total monthly expenditures: $2,488
- Livability: 76
Ohio was also represented by Steubenville in the list results. Located on the banks of the Ohio River, Steubenville has the same 76 livability marks as Alliance and slightly higher expenditures. "When deciding where to retire in Ohio, the choice could come back to the nearby big cities," GOBankingRates states. "Would you rather live in Alliance, closer to Cleveland, or in Steubenville, which is nearer to Pittsburgh?"
- Monthly mortgage: $754
- Monthly necessities: $1,733
- Total monthly expenditures: $2,487
- Livability: 76
Here's the complete list of the"15 Best Cities To Retire on $2,500 a Month" in the United States:
- Akron
- Pampa, Texas
- Robstown, Texas
- Johnstown, Pennsylvania
- Borger, Texas
- Jackson, Mississippi
- New Castle, Pennsylvania
- Cleveland
- Freeport, Illinois
- Amherst, Texas
- Riverview, Missouri
- Steubenville
- Altoona, Pennsylvania
- Alliance
- Memphis, Texas
So how did GOBankingRates come up with their list? Here's their methodology: To find the best cities to retire on $2,500 a month, GOBankingRates used a list of cities from the U.S. Census Bureau American Consumer Survey and, using data from Sperlings BestPlaces, the cost of living across many expenditure categories was calculated with the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2022 Consumer Expenditure Survey for people age 65 and older, giving the costs for each expenditure category for each city. Using the Zillow Home Value Index to find the average July 2023 home value for each city and the 30-year fixed national mortgage rate sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Data, the average monthly mortgage cost was calculated for each city. The mortgage cost and the expenditure costs were tallied to find the average total monthly costs. All cities with a total above $2,500 were removed, and for the remaining cities, the livability index was sourced from AreaVibes. The livability index and the total monthly cost were scored, with the livability index weighted at 1.5 and the total cost weighted at 1.0. The scores were combined and sorted to show the 15 best cities to retire on $2,500 a month. All data was collected and is up to date as of Sept. 13, 2023.
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