How Our Retirement City Scoring Works
RetireCityIQ ranks cities using a transparent, data-driven scoring model built specifically for retirement decision-making. Every city receives a composite score from 0–100 based on five weighted factors. This page explains exactly what we measure, where the data comes from, and how the scores are calculated — so you can trust the numbers behind your retirement city search.
The Scoring Model
Our model assigns each city a score based on five categories. The weights reflect decades of retirement planning research on what matters most to retirees when choosing where to live. Affordability carries the highest weight because housing and cost-of-living are the most frequently cited factors in retiree relocation surveys.
Total Score = 30% Affordability + 25% Healthcare + 20% Taxes + 15% Climate + 10% Lifestyle
What We Measure: Healthcare, Cost of Living & More
Affordability
Cost-of-living index, median home price, and housing cost-to-income ratios. We normalize each city against the national average and weight housing costs most heavily, since housing is typically 30–40% of a retiree's budget.
Data Sources:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Consumer Expenditure Survey
- Zillow Home Value Index
Healthcare Access
Hospital density and quality, physician-to-population ratio, Medicare Advantage plan availability, and proximity to major medical centers. We incorporate CMS Star Ratings for local Medicare plans and penalize cities with limited specialist access.
Data Sources:
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
- Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) Area Health Resource File
- American Hospital Association
State & Local Taxes
State income tax rates on retirement income (Social Security, pensions, 401(k)/IRA withdrawals), property tax effective rates, sales tax rates, and estate/inheritance taxes. We model the total tax burden for a retiree household earning $60,000–$100,000 annually.
Data Sources:
- Tax Foundation state tax data
- State revenue department publications
- Lincoln Institute of Land Policy property tax data
Climate & Weather
Average January low and July high temperatures, annual sunshine days, humidity levels, and natural disaster risk (hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, flooding). We reward moderate climates and penalize extreme heat, extreme cold, and high disaster frequency.
Data Sources:
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
- National Weather Service historical records
- FEMA National Risk Index
Lifestyle & Walkability
Walk Score, transit access, recreation opportunities, cultural amenities, and overall quality-of-life indicators. This factor captures the day-to-day livability that matters once financial and health considerations are addressed.
Data Sources:
- Walk Score API
- U.S. Census Bureau commuting data
- National Recreation and Park Association
How Scores Are Calculated
Each metric within a category is first normalized to a 0–100 scale using national percentile rankings. For example, a city with a cost-of-living index at the national median would score 50 on affordability, while a city in the 20th percentile for cost (i.e., very affordable) would score 80. We invert scales where lower is better (cost, taxes) so that a higher score always means a more favorable outcome for retirees.
Within each category, individual metrics are averaged to produce a category score. Category scores are then combined using the weights shown above to produce the final composite score. If data is missing for a particular metric, we exclude it from the category average rather than imputing a value — this ensures scores reflect actual data, not assumptions.
The confidence badge on each city page reflects data coverage and recency. Cities with complete, recently updated data across all categories receive a "High Confidence" badge. Cities missing one or more metrics or with older data are flagged accordingly.
Update Cadence
Our ETL (Extract–Transform–Load) pipeline runs quarterly to refresh all metrics from their source databases. Data freshness varies by source:
- Monthly: Housing prices (Zillow), Medicare plan data (CMS)
- Annually: Census ACS demographics, BLS cost-of-living, Tax Foundation state tax data, NOAA climate normals
- As available: Walk Score, FEMA risk assessments, state-level policy changes
Every data point on a city page includes a "Last fetched" date and source link so you can verify recency and trace back to the original source. We believe in full transparency — if you can't check the data, you shouldn't trust the ranking.
How We Compare to Other Rankings
Major rankings like U.S. News & World Report's "Best Places to Retire" and Niche.com use broader methodologies that include job market strength, education quality, and nightlife — factors that matter more to younger demographics than to retirees. RetireCityIQ is built exclusively for people making a retirement relocation decision.
Our key differentiators:
- Retirement-specific tax modeling: We calculate total tax burden for retiree income profiles (Social Security + pension + withdrawals), not general income tax rates.
- Personalized weighting: Our quiz adjusts scoring weights to match your priorities — no other major ranking offers this.
- Full transparency: Every data point is sourced and dated. We publish our methodology openly; most competitors do not.
- City-level granularity: We score individual cities, not metro areas or counties. A city 30 miles from the metro center may have a very different tax, healthcare, and walkability profile.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are cities scored on RetireCityIQ?
What data sources does RetireCityIQ use?
How often do the scores update?
Why does your ranking differ from US News or Niche?
Can I customize the scoring weights?
How many cities does RetireCityIQ cover?
What does the confidence badge on city pages mean?
See the Scores in Action
Take the quiz to get personalized retirement city rankings, or browse our full city directory.