Daydreaming about retirement? How about escaping to the mountains? The beach? Somewhere cooler? Maybe you should just stay in North Texas.
WalletHub recently released a list of best and worst places to retire, and two North Texas towns ranked in the top 10.
Grand Prairie is considered the second best place to retire in the country. Plano ranked No. 9.
Other North Texas towns fared well: Irving ranked No. 12, while Garland is in 14th place.
Fort Worth is a slightly better place to retire compared to Dallas – Cowtown ranked No. 43, while Big D placed 50th. (Arlington, appropriately, was in between – 45th place.)
Elsewhere in Texas
Here's how other Texas towns fared:
No. 23: Brownsville
No. 27: Lubbock
No. 29: Austin
No. 42: El Paso
No. 71: Amarillo
No. 78: Laredo
No. 86: San Antonio
No. 116: Houston
Interactive map: The best (and worst) places to retire
Note: Cities marked in green rank higher on the list; cities marked in red rank lower. Credit: WalletHub
The top 10
Tampa is considered the best place to retire. Not surprisingly, other Florida cities made the top 10, including Orlando (No. 3), St. Petersburg (No. 4), Port St. Lucie (No. 7) and Cape Coral (No. 8). Rounding out the top 10: Scottsdale, Arizona, was No. 5; Overland Park, Kansas, was No. 6; and Peoria, Arizona, was No. 10.
How did they determine the rankings?
WalletHub says it “analyzed the 150 largest cities in the United States across 25 key metrics. They range from cost of living to job prospects for workers aged 65 and older to the availability of recreational activities. The study also includes an examination of each city’s quality of life and health care conditions.”
Among the data sources: U.S. Census Bureau; FBI; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Trust For Public Land; Medicare; Gallup.
Plano and Grand Prairie ranked well in the health care category. They both scored fairly well on the quality of life category, which considers weather, crime and air quality. Both cities also are considered more affordable than many other towns, the survey finds.
Other retirement rankings
AARP: 10 Affordable Cities for Retirement (2011)
U.S. News & World Report: Best Places to Retire
Forbes: The 25 Best Places to Retire in 2014
MSN Money: 10 best places to retire in the US
Learn more
Explore life after 50 on PBS’ Next Avenue website.
Photo credit: bikeriderlondon/Shutterstock.com
