Additionally, editors considered a range of population densities and states to ensure readers have a variety of options.

There are several considerations when deciding where to live and retire.

Heres how we used the data in our selection process.

A colorful illustration referencing retirement themes

Access to Health Care

Access to quality health care is of utmost importance to older adults.

For our list, we weighed factors such as proximity tohospitalsandambulatory health care services(e.g.

dentists and doctors offices, outpatient facilities, etc.)

An aerial view of a blue hole in New Mexico

Access to Entertainment

Retirement ideally offers more time to enjoy the finer things in life.

in each county per capita.

A sailbaot off the coast of a Michigan city

A woman looks at a painted bison sculpture in Great Falls, Montana

A pink and blue sky over the city of Pittsfield, Massachusetts

A man in a kayak, wearing a hat, paddles through a blackwater swamp in the American south

A colorful illustration referencing retirement themes

Credit:Illustration by Bashel Lubarsky