Best & Worst Places To Retire In California: Report

From the beaches to the beautiful weather, California seems to have it all. But with the high cost of living, is the Golden State a good place to retire?

A new report by WalletHub ranked the best and worst places to retire, and with affordability being one factor, a number of California cities came in as the worst places to retire in the country.

The report compared the retirement-friendliness of the 150 largest cities across the country, ranking them from best to worst. According to the finance website, the study's authors compared the cities across 40 key metrics, including affordability, activities, quality of life and health care.

A total of 29 California cities made the list – the most of any state. San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego landed in the top 50 at the 21st, 23rd and 37th spots, respectively. The remaining 26 California cities ranked in the bottom 100.

The study noted that Los Angeles – along with Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Minneapolis – is tied for the most recreation and senior centers per capita. San Diego, along with five Florida cities, has the most fishing facilities per capita. San Francisco – along with New York City, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and St. Louis – has the most museums per capita. Glendale, Riverside and Bakersfield are among the top cities with "mild weather" in the nation.

Of the 50 worst-ranked cities overall, nearly half were in California. San Bernardino came in the 148th spot, with only Providence, Rhode Island, and Newark, New Jersey, ranked as worse places to retire in the 149th and 150th spots.

So where is the best place to retire in the country? Orlando, according to WalletHub.

Not surprisingly, three Florida cities made the top five places to retire, with Tampa and Miami following Orlando. Scottsdale, Arizona, and Atlanta, Georgia, rounded out the top five. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news from your California neighborhood. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

See how the rest of the California cities ranked, from best to worst, below. National rankings are in parenthesis.

Click here to view the complete rankings.

1. San Francisco (21)
2. Los Angeles (23)
3. San Diego (37)
4. Sacramento (63)
5. Huntington Beach (90)
6. Long Beach (96)
7. Irvine (100)
8. Glendale (103)
9. Santa Rosa (110)
10. Santa Clarita (118)
11. San Jose (120)
12. Garden Grove (123)
13. Moreno Valley (124)
14. Fremont (128)
15. Riverside (129)
16. Oakland (131)
17. Anaheim (132)
18. Oceanside (134)
19. Ontario (136)
20. Oxnard (137)
21. Santa Ana (138)
22. Bakersfield (139)
23. Chula Vista (140)
24. Rancho Cucamonga (141)
25. Fontana (142)
26. Modesto (143)
27. Stockton (144)
28. Fresno (145)
29. San Bernardino (148)

Also see:

Smoky Russian Consulate; Deer Detained; Objectionable Billboard; Pups Rescued From Pipe: Calif. Stories You Can't Miss

Image via Shutterstock