Yahoo Finance 12 Great Midwest Cities To Retire — If You Make Over $3,500 a Month
You worked hard throughout your career to set up your retirement, perhaps through a combination of Social Security earnings, a pension and investments. You know you and your significant other can count on at least $3,500 a month in income and are open to a new adventure, but where can you live comfortably if you want to retire in the Midwest?
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GOBankingRates looked at data from Sperling’s Best, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and AreaVibes to find great cities in the region where you could retire with that income level. We’ve listed a dozen places with the cost of monthly necessities less than $3,500 a month, giving you some money left for retirement fun.
12. Plymouth, Minnesota
Livability Score: 84
2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,824
Monthly Grocery Cost Per Couple: $416.94
Monthly Healthcare Cost Per Couple: $476.28
Monthly Utilities Cost Per Couple: $346.29
Monthly Transportation Cost Per Couple: $433.34
Monthly Necessities Cost Per Couple: $3,496.64
Groceries and transportation costs are more than the national average in Plymouth, and rent is the highest of the 12 cities on the list. Still, healthcare in Minnesota comes in almost 25% below the national average. That fact helps Plymouth squeak just below the $3,500 mark for monthly necessities. The livability score of 84 is tied for second highest in the study.
11. Grove City, Ohio
Livability Score: 77
2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,755
Monthly Grocery Cost Per Couple: $397.75
Monthly Healthcare Cost Per Couple: $562.36
Monthly Utilities Cost Per Couple: $360.06
Monthly Transportation Cost Per Couple: $381.02
Monthly Necessities Cost Per Couple: $3,456.55
The cost of monthly expenditures falls below the national average in every category except utilities in Grove City, one of three Ohio cities on the list. Being a suburb of Columbus, Grove City is an ideal place to live, close to the big-city lifestyle and major professional and college sports.
10. Carmel, Indiana
Livability Score: 83
2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,729
Monthly Grocery Cost Per Couple: $404.55
Monthly Healthcare Cost Per Couple: $625.19
Monthly Utilities Cost Per Couple: $316.99
Monthly Transportation Cost Per Couple: $372.78
Monthly Necessities Cost Per Couple: $3,448.11
Groceries rank a tad higher than the national average price of groceries in Carmel but below it in terms of healthcare, utilities and transportation. At $1,729 per month, the cost of rent in the suburb north of Indianapolis makes it one of three places in the study with rent above $1,700, perhaps owing to its high livability score.
9. Overland Park, Kansas
Livability Score: 79
2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,666
Monthly Grocery Cost Per Couple: $410.14
Monthly Healthcare Cost Per Couple: $635.87
Monthly Utilities Cost Per Couple: $349.82
Monthly Transportation Cost Per Couple: $354.25
Monthly Necessities Cost Per Couple: $3,415.92
Overland Park is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and if you want to travel to the big city, your wallet won’t be drained. Overland Park has the lowest monthly transportation cost in the study, at 14% below the national average.
8. Noblesville, Indiana
Livability Score: 84
2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,695
Monthly Grocery Cost Per Couple: $388.96
Monthly Healthcare Cost Per Couple: $625.19
Monthly Utilities Cost Per Couple: $316.99
Monthly Transportation Cost Per Couple: $384.32
Monthly Necessities Cost Per Couple: $3,410.07
The necessities cost for Noblesville residents falls below the national average across the board. Its livability score of 84 ties with Plymouth, Minnesota, as the second highest; the utility cost is tied for the lowest with its fellow Indiana locale, Carmel.
7. Livonia, Michigan
Livability Score: 75
2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,630
Monthly Grocery Cost Per Couple: $388.16
Monthly Healthcare Cost Per Couple: $513.98
Monthly Utilities Cost Per Couple: $354.77
Monthly Transportation Cost Per Couple: $507.89
Monthly Necessities Cost Per Couple: $3,395.20
Livonia is the only city on the list from Michigan and the first one where total monthly necessities cost less than $3,400. Transportation costs, however, are by far the highest in the study, coming in above $500 per month and 23.3% higher than the national average.
6. Olathe, Kansas
Livability Score: 76
2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,616
Monthly Grocery Cost Per Couple: $403.75
Monthly Healthcare Cost Per Couple: $635.87
Monthly Utilities Cost Per Couple: $349.82
Monthly Transportation Cost Per Couple: $355.90
Monthly Necessities Cost Per Couple: $3,361.30
Olathe is the opposite of Livonia, where transportation costs are concerned, falling about $150 lower than the Michigan city and about 13% below the national average. Prices rank about 1% over the national average in the grocery and healthcare categories.
5. Eden Prairie, Minnesota
Livability Score: 83
2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,689
Monthly Grocery Cost Per Couple: $415.74
Monthly Healthcare Cost Per Couple: $476.28
Monthly Utilities Cost Per Couple: $344.88
Monthly Transportation Cost Per Couple: $426.75
Monthly Necessities Cost Per Couple: $3,353.14
Eden Prairie makes the list given its high livability score and its low healthcare costs, like the other two Minnesota cities. Grocery and transportation costs are about 4% higher than the national average.
4. Lee’s Summit, Missouri
Livability Score: 78
2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,576
Monthly Grocery Cost Per Couple: $402.15
Monthly Healthcare Cost Per Couple: $642.79
Monthly Utilities Cost Per Couple: $352.65
Monthly Transportation Cost Per Couple: $372.37
Monthly Necessities Cost Per Couple: $3,346.23
Lee’s Summit, a fast-growing suburb of Kansas City, has the highest healthcare cost of the cities in the study but the lowest average rent. In fact, it’s the only location with rent below $1,600 per month.
3. Medina, Ohio
Livability Score: 75
2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,672
Monthly Grocery Cost Per Couple: $404.15
Monthly Healthcare Cost Per Couple: $551.05
Monthly Utilities Cost Per Couple: $339.23
Monthly Transportation Cost Per Couple: $376.49
Monthly Necessities Cost Per Couple: $3,342.61
In Medina, about 35 miles south of Cleveland, groceries cost more than the national average. However, prices fall below the standard in every other category, with Medina residents paying more than 12% less than the national average for healthcare.
2. Brooklyn Park, Minnesota
Livability Score: 79
2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,651
Monthly Grocery Cost Per Couple: $402.55
Monthly Healthcare Cost Per Couple: $476.28
Monthly Utilities Cost Per Couple: $348.76
Monthly Transportation Cost Per Couple: $455.99
Monthly Necessities Cost Per Couple: $3,335.03
Residents in Brooklyn Park, the final Minnesota city on the list, also benefit from healthcare costs that rank nearly 25% below the national average. The Minneapolis suburb offers an attractive retirement alternative with its strong livability score.
1. Loveland, Ohio
Livability Score: 86
2023 Average Monthly Rent: $1,625
Monthly Grocery Cost Per Couple: $411.34
Monthly Healthcare Cost Per Couple: $561.73
Monthly Utilities Cost Per Couple: $349.47
Monthly Transportation Cost Per Couple: $384.32
Monthly Necessities Cost Per Couple: $3,332.26
About 25 miles northeast of Cincinnati is Loveland, where the living is lovely. Loveland has the highest livability score in the study at 86, and monthly expenses are below the national average in all categories except groceries.
Methodology: GOBankingRates determined the best cities in the Midwest (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio) to retire on at least $3,500 a month by first isolating all cities in the Midwest cities with a 2023 average monthly rent under $1,900 and a size rank below 1,000. GOBankingRates then used Sperling’s Best to find the cost of living index for each listed city, looking at grocery, healthcare, utilities and transportation index scores. Next, GOBankingRates used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2022 Consumer Expenditure Survey to find the annual expenditure amount for grocery (“food at home”), utilities, healthcare, and transportation costs for people aged 65 and older in order to find how much a couple 65 and over would spend on necessities in each city on a monthly basis. GOBankingRates then added monthly housing, grocery, utilities, transportation and healthcare costs together to determine the cost of necessities each month. In order for a city to be qualified for the study the city had to have a livability score above 75 as sourced from AreaVibes. GOBankingRates scored and combined both livability and monthly necessities expenditure, to determine final rankings. All data was collected and is up to date as of Sept. 13, 2023.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 12 Great Midwest Cities To Retire — If You Make Over $3,500 a Month
