U.S. News & World Report Reveals the 2025 Best Places to Retire

Naples, Florida, lands No. 1 as new data shakes up the rankings.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in rankings and consumer advice, today unveiled the 2025 Best Places to Retire in the United States. This year’s rankings evaluated 150 top U.S. cities based on how well they meet American retirees’ expectations, with measures including happiness, affordability, health care, desirability, retiree taxes and job market.

Retirees noted overall happiness of a place’s residents as the top consideration when determining a place to retire this year, helping Naples, Florida, secure the No. 1 rank. Naples also scored high in desirability, retiree taxes and job market.

“The 2025 Best Places to Retire rankings reflect top cities across the country that best meet retiree needs and desires,” says Dawn Bradbury, assistant managing editor for real estate at U.S. News. “What we found this year is retirees seek a destination that will not only stretch their dollar, but is also a place for enjoyment. This is why the Midwest and South dominate the top 25.”

This year, U.S. News adjusted its scoring to make happiness the most heavily weighted of the six factors in the 2025 Best Places to Retire methodology, which also includes indexes for affordability, health care quality, retiree taxes, desirability and job market. Additionally, to further localize metrics that have a direct impact on retirees, U.S. News transitioned from using Metro Statistical Area (MSA) data to city-based data. These changes resulted in top-10 appearances from Virginia Beach, Virginia (No. 2), Boise, Idaho (No. 5), Raleigh, North Carolina (No. 6), Jacksonville, Florida (No. 7), Huntsville, Alabama (No. 8), Charlotte, North Carolina (No. 9) and Fort Wayne, Indiana (No. 10).

“U.S. News’ rankings are consistently evolving to meet consumer needs,” Bradbury added. “This year’s shift from Metro Statistical Area data to city-based data enables the consumer to consider factors that will directly impact the livability and overall experiences associated with a city on a more local level.”

The six measures factored into this year’s rankings were weighted based on a public survey of individuals across the U.S. who are at or approaching retirement age (45 and older) to find out what matters most to people when they’re considering where to retire. Data sources include the U.S. Census Bureau, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Risk Index, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Sharecare and U.S. News’ Best Hospitals rankings.

Best Places to Retire is part of U.S. News’ expanding Real Estate section, which provides rankings, tools and advice to help individuals navigate the housing market, from finding the right neighborhood and home value estimates to working with an agent and buying and selling a home.

2025 U.S. News Best Places to Retire – Top 10
*See the full rankings here.

1. Naples, Florida
2. Virginia Beach, Virginia
3. New York City, New York
4. Sarasota, Florida
5. Boise, Idaho
6. Raleigh, North Carolina
7. Jacksonville, Florida
8. Huntsville, Alabama
9. Charlotte, North Carolina
10. Fort Wayne, Indiana

For more information on Best Places to Retire, explore Facebook and social platform X using #BestPlacesToRetire.

About U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is the global leader for journalism that empowers consumers, citizens, business leaders and policy officials to make confident decisions in all aspects of their lives and communities. A multifaceted media company, U.S. News provides unbiased rankings, independent reporting and analysis, and consumer advice to millions of people on USNews.com each month. A pillar in Washington for more than 90 years, U.S. News is the trusted home for in-depth and exclusive insights on education, health, politics, the economy, personal finance, travel, automobiles, real estate, careers and consumer products and services.

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