Where to Live When You Retire
This Week's Quote:
“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”
-Mahatma Gandhi
Ah, retirement, the thing that everyone works half of their life towards. Many people have retirement savings in the form of 401(k)s, IRAs, and other such funds, but many people can get stuck when it comes to where they wish to live out their retirement. The Dayton Business Journal has provided the top five places where retirees have, on average, the best financial security, and our very own Dayton comes in at number 5!
-Zak Kitzmiller
Dayton-Kettering ranks among Top 5 most financially secure places for seniors in U.S.
Utilizing data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 5-year American Community Survey, U.S. metro areas were ranked in consideration of including the senior poverty rate, the percentage of seniors with private retirement income, senior homeownership rates and the percentage of seniors who spend 30% or… more.
Amid rising inflation and a tumbling stock market, seniors are left to weather the storm as they navigate their golden years. But Dayton-Kettering metro area seniors may be among the lucky, according to a recent study.
The study, completed by SmartAsset, ranked 100 U.S. metro areas with the largest 65 and older populations to determine where seniors are the most and least financially secure. Sufficient retirement savings and affordable housing are found to help ease the financial burdens faced by older Americans.
The Dayton-Kettering metro area ranked among the top five places where seniors are most financially stable.
Data, collected from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 5-year American Community Survey, was ranked in consideration of several metrics including the senior poverty rate, the percentage of seniors with private retirement income, senior homeownership rates and the percentage of seniors who spend 30% or more of their income on housing costs, among others.
The study found top and bottom ranked metro areas have similar average retirement income, but stark differences across other metrics. Seniors in Northeastern metro areas tended to be the least financially secure with the bottom 10 metro areas representing seven Northeastern states. The New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area ranked worst overall.
Additionally, on average, the percentage of seniors on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is 6% in the top 10 metro areas, but nearly doubled in the bottom ranked metro areas at 11%. Similarly, average housing costs make up 21% of retirement income for top-ranked cities which grows 10% higher for bottom ranked cities.
All metro areas within the top five held a less than 8% senior poverty rate, over 79% home ownership rate and a percentage of housing cost-burdened seniors under 30%.
Here’s how the Dayton-Kettering metro area stacked up among the best, according to the report.
1. Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC
This metro area not only ranks as most financially secure for seniors, but also claims the top spot for its low percentage of seniors below the poverty line at 6.1% and high senior homeownership rate at 89.9%. The average senior retirement income in the area is roughly $55,400 and median annual housing costs make up about 20% of senior retirement income (third lowest).
2. Salisbury, MD-DE
The average senior retirement income in Salisbury is roughly $58,400 and housing costs make up 21.23% of this expense (seventh lowest). This metro area also ranks well in three other metrics. It has the third-lowest percentage of seniors below the poverty line at 6.2%, fourth-highest percentage of seniors who own their own homes at 87.1% and seventh highest percentage of seniors with private retirement income at 61.7%.
3. North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL
North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton ranked seventh best for two metrics: senior poverty rate at 6.7% and senior homeownership rate at 86.0%. The average senior retirement income is almost $61,500 and housing costs make up an average of about 21% of that income - ranking eighth of the 100 metro areas in the study.
4. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA
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Seniors in the area can expect housing costs to make up roughly 19% of the average retirement income. 60.7% of seniors have retirement income from private means (ranking 10th highest) and less than 23% of the senior population are housing cost-burdened (third lowest).
5. Dayton-Kettering, OH
In the Dayton-Kettering metro area, the senior retirement income is nearly $52,300. Roughly 63% of the senior population has private retirement income (fourth highest). Housing costs will take up roughly 20% of the average retirement income (fifth lowest) and, of the senior population in the area, 28% are housing cost-burdened (23rd lowest).
In contrast, the study found the following places to be the least financially secure for seniors:
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
Providence-Warwick, RI-MA
To find out more about the data, its methodology and how other metro areas ranked, read the SmartAsset official report.
Credit goes to Nicole Mistretta. Published June 11, 2022 by the Dayton Business Journal.
Thank you for all of your questions, comments and suggestions for future topics. As always, they are much appreciated. We also welcome and appreciate anyone who wishes to write a Tax Tip of the Week for our consideration. We may be reached in our Dayton office at 937-436-3133 or in our Xenia office at 937-372-3504. Or, visit our website.
This Week’s Author, Zak Kitzmiller
