These 11 Cities Are Where Seniors Are Most and Least Financially Secure

How is anyone supposed to know exactly how much they’re meant to save for their retirement? There are so many variables at play, it’s almost impossible to come up with a nice, rounded number. It all depends on how you’re planning on spending your day, your expenses, whether or not you’re going to have debt or accounting for emergency situations.

Your golden years may be golden but they also come with the added challenge of balancing out many expenses on a fixed income. Add to that the fact that you simply can’t know how long your savings should last, and you’ve got yourself a real dilemma.

To help aid you in figuring everything out, we’ve prepared a list of 11 cities with the largest population of 65-year-olds. In some of these cities, seniors are financially secure. In some of these locations… not so much.

This should put your savings into perspective, especially if you’re aiming for a specific fissure for your retirement. If you’ve been planning on moving to any of these places or already live here, this list might be the deciding factor- should you pack your bags or not?

Data and methodology

These cities were outlined as part of a study by SmartAsset. But before we get into the list, let’s look at how exactly they made the top and why.

The study looked at households for which the head of the household was 65 and over. First, it took into account the average senior retirement income including Social security, private savings, IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401(k), pensions, etc.

Using data from the Census Bureau’s 2018 5-year American Community Survey, the next step was to determine 6 percentages:

1. The percentage of seniors who own their homes, so those who paid rent were not included.
2. The percentage of seniors who received food stamps or SNAP benefits.
3. The percentage of seniors living below the poverty line.
4. The percentage of seniors with retirement income from private means.
5. The percentage of seniors (homeowners and renters) who spend 30% or more of income on housing costs.
6. Housing costs as a percentage of the average retirement income.

With all that said, let’s look at where in the U.S. retirees are most and least financially secure.

Where seniors are most financially secure

5. Lexington, Kentucky

If you’re looking for the fifth-lowest percentage of seniors who have have housing cost issues, look no further than Lexington, Kentucky. Here, only 26.9% of seniors over the ages of 65 are burdened by these costs.

Only 7% of seniors live below the poverty line, placing Lexington on the 11th lowest rank. On the other hand, the city also received the 11th highest rank when it came to retirement income from private means, as 53% of seniors rely on this type of income. In fact, on average, retirees live on $49,000.