That's right; Pennsylvania.
A new report on The Best Places to Retire in the US was just released by US News and World Report. While Florida once again has its fair share of locations on the list, the top of the list this year was surprisingly dominated by Pennsylvania, led by Lancaster, PA in the #1 spot.
In fact, Pennsylvania towns made up 5 of the top 10, followed by Florida with 4 metro areas. Ann Arbor, Michigan checking in at #8, the only metro outside of PA and FL.
What made Pennsylvania so popular this year? A lot of it's based on how US News conducted their survey. Across the 150 metro areas studied, the top criteria included the "happiness" of local residents, housing affordability, tax rates and health care quality.
Not all factors were weighted equally, however. Housing affordability carried the most weight for each area’s overall score. It accounted for factors like median annual housing costs for homeowners with a mortgage as well as median annual gross rent.
"Happiness" was the second highest weighted factor. This index included elements like crime rates, air quality index, and well-being metrics.
The housing market boom, followed now by rising mortgage rates, ha forced retirees to weigh their options more heavily when it comes to choosing where to spend retirement.
With prices booming in many historically popular retirement destinations, and with many of the Pennsylvania metros scoring quite well in the happiness index, it only makes sense that we'd see changes in this year's report. Areas like Lancaster & Harrisburg largely avoided the extreme spike in housing prices that areas like Sarasota and Naples have experienced, which almost certainly influenced the rankings.
This list isn't a be all/end all of course. Many retirees will continue to flock to places like Jupiter or Del Ray, along with other high cost metros like San Diego, Santa Barbara or whatever areas specific retirees will find attractive. It also doesn't account for variables like hurricanes or snow storms, or for retirees that may summer in one area and spend their winters elsewhere.
That being said, we can take some directional information from the report. The changes in the economy are having material impacts on life decisions; people value quality of life and want to make sure their nest egg lasts throughout their retirement.
Will this result in actual demographic shifts? Individual preferences and specific family situations heavily influence where retirees will actually settle down, but perhaps the recent changes in the economy will lead to changes in retiree decisions. Only time will tell.
Here's a look at the top 10. For the full report, click here.
US News & World Report: Best Places to Retire in the US 2022-23:
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Lancaster, Pa.
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Harrisburg, Pa.
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Pensacola, Fla.
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Tampa, Fla.
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York, Pa.
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Naples, Fla.
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Daytona Beach, Fla.
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Ann Arbor, Mich.
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Allentown, Pa.
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Reading, Pa.
About Ellie Perlman
Ellie Perlman is the founder and CEO of Blue Lake Capital, a woman owned multifamily real estate investment firm focused on partnering with family offices and accredited investors to build and preserve generational wealth. Since its founding in 2017, Blue Lake has successfully acquired and operated multifamily assets across high-growth U.S. markets, completing $1B+ in transactions.
At Blue Lake Capital, Ellie and her team work exclusively with family offices and accredited investors, offering carefully curated investment opportunities that emphasize long-term wealth creation, stability, and risk-adjusted returns. A defining aspect of Blue Lake’s investment strategy is its integration of advanced AI-driven analytics and data science into the entire lifecycle of acquisitions and asset management. By leveraging cutting-edge technology, the firm executes data-driven forecasting on market trends, asset performance, and tenant behavior, ensuring strategic decision-making and optimized returns.
In addition to leading Blue Lake Capital, Ellie is the original founder and host of "REady2Scale - Real Estate Investing" podcast, which provides insights into multifamily real estate, alternative investments, and finance.
Ellie began her career as a commercial real estate attorney, structuring and negotiating complex transactions for one of Israel’s leading development firms. She later transitioned into property management, overseeing over $100M in assets for Israel’s largest energy company.
Ellie holds a Master’s in Law from Bar-Ilan University in Israel and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.
You can learn more about Blue Lake Capital and Ellie Perlman at www.bluelake-capital.com.
*The content provided on this website, including all downloadable resources, is for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as financial advice. Furthermore, this material does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.
