Tampa Named 2nd Best Florida City For Retirees

TAMPA, FL -- People looking to retire in Florida might want to consider a home in Tampa. Tampa was just named the No. 2 retirement destination in Florida by WalletHub, the personal-finance website, in 2019’s Best Places to Retire in Florida.

With Florida already ranked the No. 1 retirement destination in America because of its low cost of living for retirees on fixed incomes, WalletHub decided to look at which Florida cities were the most ideal places for older Americans to spend their retirement years.

WalletHub compared more than 100 cities in the Sunshine State across 28 key indicators of retiree-friendliness ranging from cost of living to health care facilities per capita to the number of attractions.

Also making the Top 20 list were St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Dunedin. Ironically, Dunedin was 20 on WalletHub's list but was just named one of the top eight small cities in the United States for retirement by Where to Retire magazine.

See related story: Magazine Names Dunedin A Best Retirement Destination

Here are the top 20 cities:

• 1 Sarasota
• 2 Tampa
• 3 Miami
• 4 Boca Raton
• 5 Key West
• 6 Orlando
• 7 Bradenton
• 8 Fort Myers
• 9 West Palm Beach
• 10 Clearwater
• 11 Fort Lauderdale
• 12 Immokalee
• 13 Winter Park
• 14 St. Petersburg
• 15 Delray Beach
• 16 Bonita Springs
• 17 Jupiter
• 18 Coral Gables
• 19 Pensacola
• 20 Dunedin

Valrico was rated No. 32; Temple Terrace 34; Largo 36; Town n' Country 49; Brandon 62; Plant City 68; Palm Harbor 72; Riverview 85; and Wesley Chapel 109.

Best Vs. Worst

• The Villages has the highest share of population aged 65 and older, 78.60 percent, which is 15.4 times higher than in Horizon West, the city with the lowest at 5.10 percent.
• Titusville has the lowest adjusted cost-of-living index, 86.21, which is 1.9 times lower than in Coral Gables, the city with the highest at 162.12.
• Key West has the highest share of workers aged 65 and older, 28.98 percent, which is 4.2 times higher than in The Villages, the city with the lowest at 6.92 percent.
• Sarasota has the most home-care facilities (per 100,000 residents), 113, which is 113 times more than in Deltona, the city with the fewest at one.
• Weston has the fewest property crimes (per 1,000 residents), six, which is 13.7 times fewer than in Miami Beach, the city with the most at 82.