Yahoo Finance 25 Safest and Cheapest Cities To Retire in Florida
Retirees heading to Florida have a few needs they want met in their retirement years. Ideally, the city they relocate to should be in a safe area with an affordable cost of living. Luckily, 25 Florida cities fit the bill.
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To find out which Florida cities are the most affordable and safest to retire in, GOBankingRates calculated the population percentage of residents aged 65 and over in each city.
The average single family home value and mortgage costs were factored in, and the latter was added to the average expenditure for the total monthly cost of living. Crime and violent crime rates were also sourced from the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer to calculate the property per 100,000 residents.
From 25th place to number one, see which 25 cities in Florida are most affordable and safe for retirees.
25. Ormond Beach
Population 65 and over (%): 31.58%
January 2024 average home value: $395,243
Average mortgage: $2,352
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,501
Monthly total cost of living: $3,853
Violent crime rate: 180.1
Property crime rate: 1,855.9
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24. Ocean Ridge
Population 65 and over (%): 40.13%
January 2024 average home value: $2,412,401
Average mortgage: $14,357
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,659
Monthly total cost of living: $16,016
Violent crime rate: 219.3
Property crime rate: 986.8
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23. Maitland
Population 65 and over (%): 12.52%
January 2024 average home value: $585,137
Average mortgage: $3,482
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,579
Monthly total cost of living: $5,062
Violent crime rate: 173.2
Property crime rate: 1,775.8
22. South Daytona
Population 65 and over (%): 21.55%
January 2024 average home value: $276,493
Average mortgage: $1,646
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,500
Monthly total cost of living: $3,145
Violent crime rate: 189.6
Property crime rate: 1,349.2
21. Lake Mary
Population 65 and over (%): 19.01%
January 2024 average home value: $488,234
Average mortgage: $2,906
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,602
Monthly total cost of living: $4,508
Violent crime rate: 127.5
Property crime rate: 1,208.3
20. Jupiter Island
Population 65 and over (%): 46.30%
January 2024 average home value: $9,708,076
Average mortgage: $57,778
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,550
Monthly total cost of living: $59,327
Violent crime rate: 0.0
Property crime rate: 356.3
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19. Lake Helen
Population 65 and over (%): 23.17%
January 2024 average home value: $304,198
Average mortgage: $1,810
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,541
Monthly total cost of living: $3,352
Violent crime rate: 209.3
Property crime rate: 523.2
18. Sea Ranch Lakes
Population 65 and over (%): 23.48%
January 2024 average home value: $2,274,397
Average mortgage: $13,536
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,670
Monthly total cost of living: $15,206
Violent crime rate: 0.0
Property crime rate: 2,996.3
17. West Melbourne
Population 65 and over (%): 20.16%
January 2024 average home value: $410,143
Average mortgage: $2,441
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,451
Monthly total cost of living: $3,892
Violent crime rate: 232.7
Property crime rate: 1,338.1
16. Oviedo
Population 65 and over (%): 10.00%
January 2024 average home value: $500,289
Average mortgage: $2,977
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,625
Monthly total cost of living: $4,603
Violent crime rate: 89.7
Property crime rate: 607.3
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15. Indian Shores
Population 65 and over (%): 39.68%
January 2024 average home value: $844,724
Average mortgage: $5,027
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,610
Monthly total cost of living: $6,638
Violent crime rate: 22.6
Property crime rate: 384.5
14. Milton
Population 65 and over (%): 17.93%
January 2024 average home value: $275,125
Average mortgage: $1,637
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,493
Monthly total cost of living: $3,130
Violent crime rate: 120.9
Property crime rate: 1,729.4
13. Sebastian
Population 65 and over (%): 36.49%
January 2024 average home value: $357,166
Average mortgage: $2,126
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,553
Monthly total cost of living: $3,679
Violent crime rate: 64.7
Property crime rate: 910.2
12. North Port
Population 65 and over (%): 28.35%
January 2024 average home value: $347,517
Average mortgage: $2,068
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,542
Monthly total cost of living: $3,610
Violent crime rate: 119.6
Property crime rate: 943.7
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11. Port Orange
Population 65 and over (%): 24.99%
January 2024 average home value: $359,616
Average mortgage: $2,140
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,498
Monthly total cost of living: $3,639
Violent crime rate: 45.3
Property crime rate: 1,308.6
10. Atlantic Beach
Population 65 and over (%): 24.73%
January 2024 average home value: $654,788
Average mortgage: $3,897
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,552
Monthly total cost of living: $5,449
Violent crime rate: 166.8
Property crime rate: 1,198.0
9. Parker
Population 65 and over (%): 16.96%
January 2024 average home value: $219,248
Average mortgage: $1,305
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,461
Monthly total cost of living: $2,765
Violent crime rate: 274.7
Property crime rate: 1,609.1
8. Bonifay
Population 65 and over (%): 29.82%
January 2024 average home value: $133,647
Average mortgage: $795
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,505
Monthly total cost of living: $2,301
Violent crime rate: 142.7
Property crime rate: 356.6
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7. Flagler Beach
Population 65 and over (%): 32.43%
January 2024 average home value: $545,121
Average mortgage: $3,244
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,540
Monthly total cost of living: $4,784
Violent crime rate: 56.0
Property crime rate: 615.6
6. Neptune Beach
Population 65 and over (%): 19.52%
January 2024 average home value: $677,909
Average mortgage: $4,035
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,561
Monthly total cost of living: $5,595
Violent crime rate: 129.1
Property crime rate: 1,190.6
5. Marco Island
Population 65 and over (%): 58.61%
January 2024 average home value: $1,501,725
Average mortgage: $8,938
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,549
Monthly total cost of living: $10,486
Violent crime rate: 86.8
Property crime rate: 520.5
4. Melbourne Beach
Population 65 and over (%): 29.46%
January 2024 average home value: $700,642
Average mortgage: $4,170
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,500
Monthly total cost of living: $5,670
Violent crime rate: 61.9
Property crime rate: 773.8
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3. Indian Harbour Beach
Population 65 and over (%): 29.53%
January 2024 average home value: $481,781
Average mortgage: $2,867
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,488
Monthly total cost of living: $4,356
Violent crime rate: 89.4
Property crime rate: 759.8
2. Satellite Beach
Population 65 and over (%): 17.24%
January 2024 average home value: $528,348
Average mortgage: $3,144
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,509
Monthly total cost of living: $4,653
Violent crime rate: 106.3
Property crime rate: 868.2
1. Ponce Inlet
Population 65 and over (%): 50.09%
January 2024 average home value: $655,253
Average mortgage: $3,900
Monthly expenditure cost: $1,524
Monthly total cost of living: $5,424
Violent crime rate: 58.2
Property crime rate: 407.5
Disclaimer: Photos are for illustrative purposes only. In many cases, the closest major city outside of the city/county mentioned it the article was used.
Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed cities in Florida to find the cheapest and safest cities to retire. First GOBankingRates found the [1] total population and the [2] population for residents aged 65 for each city in Florida as sourced from the US Census American Community Survey. Using these populations, the population percentage of residents aged 65 and over can be calculated. The [3] average single family home value from January 2024 was sourced from Zillow Home Value Index and using the [4] national average 30-year fixed mortgage as sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Data, the [5] average mortgage cost can be calculated for each city. The cost of living indexes were found including; [6] Grocery cost of living index, [7] Healthcare cost of living index, [8] Utilities cost of living index, [9] Transportation cost of living index, [10] Miscellaneous cost of living index all sourced from Sperlings BestPlaces and using the [11] national average cost for each expenditure as sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, the [12] average costs for each expenditure can be calculated. Adding the average expenditure cost to the average mortgage cost gives the [13] total monthly cost of living for each city. The [14] property crime count and the [15] violent crime count were sourced from the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer and using the total population the [16] property crime rate per 100,000 and the [17] violent crime rate per 100,000 can be calculated. The [18] median household income for residents aged 65 and over was sourced from the US Census American Community Survey. The [5] average mortgage was scored and weighted at 1.00, the [12] average expenditure costs were scored and weighted at 1.00, the [18] household income of residents aged 65 and over was scored and weighted at 1.00, the [16] property crime rate per 100,000 residents was scored and weighted at 1.00, and the [17] violent crime rate was scored and weighted at 1.00. All the scores were summed up and sorted to show the safest and cheapest cities to retire in Florida. All data was collected and is up to date as of March 4th, 2024.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 25 Safest and Cheapest Cities To Retire in Florida
