Salt Lake ranks poorly as a place to retire
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Salt Lake continues to drop in the rankings of retirement destinations, with declining scores for health care and housing value.
Driving the news: The Salt Lake metro area fell to No. 138 of the 150 biggest metros in the nation in U.S. News & World Report's 2023 "Best Places to Retire" rankings, released this month.
- That's down from No. 133 in 2022, No. 124 in 2021 and No. 111 in 2020.
Zoom out: Most of the cities that leapfrogged Salt Lake this year are in California — and were deemed superior retirement destinations despite having significantly more expensive housing.
- Last year Salt Lake was largely overtaken by southern cities with low-cost housing.
The intrigue: Salt Lake scored 4.4 out of 10 for health care — lower than all the cities that moved above it in the rankings and a drop from its score of 5 two years ago.
- U.S. News used its hospital ratings as a factor in the retirement ranking, calculating the quantity and quality of nearby hospitals in each city.
Reality check: Salt Lake has scored well on other retirement rankings this year, particularly where life expectancy is a factor.
Of note: Nearly all of the 12 cities that ranked lower than Salt Lake are in the west — mostly in California, with Denver and Albuquerque also getting low marks.
What we're watching: Salt Lake saw an even bigger drop in the magazine's "Best Places to Live" rankings, falling to No. 58 this year from No. 23 in 2022.
- That report is released each May; the next one could signal further decline — or a rebound if housing costs stabilize.
The big picture: Pennsylvania dominated the ranking, landing seven spots in the top 10.
- Just three Florida cities — Daytona Beach, Tampa and Sarasota — cracked the top 20, compared to eight last year.
- Yes, but: Florida remains a desirable place to live for seniors.