Around Town

Arlington Named ‘Best City To Retire’

Aerial view of apartment buildings in Courthouse (Flickr pool photo by Alex Erkiletian)Arlington County continues to receive accolades. It has just been named the ‘best city to retire,’ according to a new report by Bankrate.com.

The report used eight categories to rank 196 cities, including cost of living, crime rate, walkability, wellbeing, taxes, health care, weather and culture.

Arlington was ranked highly in most of the categories, with low crime and tax rates complementing “great” ratings in walkability, culture, healthcare and well-being.

Arlington’s main drawback was the high cost of living. Another negative: the weather only receiving an “average” rating.

“We found that smaller cities and suburbs fared the best,” said Bankrate.com analyst Jill Cornfield. “Most seniors prefer to live in these types of communities because they offer access to big-city amenities without as much hustle, bustle and crime.”

Four of the top 10 cities on the list are located in the D.C. area with Alexandria, Silver Spring and Rockville all receiving high marks as well.

The top 10 cities in Bankrate.com’s rankings are:

  1. Arlington, VA
  2. Alexandria, VA
  3. Franklin, TN
  4. Silver Spring, MD
  5. West Des Moines, IA
  6. Nashville, TN
  7. Sarasota, FL
  8. Rockville, MD
  9. Des Moines, IA
  10. Murfreesboro, TN

Flickr pool photo by Alex Erkiletian