4 Big Towns for Retirees Where Living Is Easy and Affordable

When you’re planning where to live for your retirement, you may think you need to choose between small-town charm and big-city resources, but some big towns have the best of both worlds.

In this article, we look at towns with populations over 100,000 that offer the best combination of affordability, culture, and robust health care access. 

This list is part of a bigger project Investopedia undertook with Travel + Leisure to identify the top 50 best places to retire in the U.S. We gathered and analyzed data on the cost of living across the U.S., as well as access to travel, health care, and arts and entertainment.

These four big towns offer charm, affordability, health care access, and more.

1. Toledo, Ohio

Toledo has over 263,000 residents and an award-winning parks system. You’ll find plenty of natural spaces to explore. Together, the parks in Lucas County—Toledo’s county—cover over 12,000 acres of protected land and 200 miles of trails. 

There’s also plenty to do at the parks when the grandkids visit. The county claims it has the country’s only public treehouse village, and many kids find hours of fun at the mountain bike skills course, both of which are only about a 30-minute drive from Toledo’s center. There’s a metropark within 5 miles of every Lucas County resident, so if you live here, your nearest park may be just a short drive from home.

To round out the outdoor fun, retirees who enjoy boating or fishing will appreciate Toledo’s proximity to Lake Erie, where you can swim and fish for yellow perch, bass, and steelhead trout.  

But Toledo doesn’t just have green space—it also has historic charm. Toledo’s Old West End neighborhood boasts one of the most extensive collections of Victorian, Edwardian, and Arts and Crafts homes in the U.S. You’ll find them on tree-lined streets in the Old Orchard neighborhood.  

Toledo’s cost of living remains manageable, even with all its amenities. Lucas County has a lower cost of living than any other county in this article. Its median home value is the lowest at $155,200, and median monthly housing costs are $953. The county’s monthly food costs and taxes are also the lowest, at $600 and $547, respectively. Moreover, there are no state taxes on Social Security benefits in Ohio.

The county also has dozens of hospitals and medical facilities, offering convenient access to health care. For truly world class health care, the Cleveland Clinic is less than two hours away.

If you’ve always wanted to retire in a big metro area but worried your retirement dollars wouldn’t stretch far enough, Toledo may be the affordable big town you’re looking for. 

2. Springfield, Massachusetts

Springfield is called the “City of Firsts”—it’s the birthplace of basketball, the armory, and the first American automobile. It was also the birthplace and home of Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. Today, the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden honors his legacy with bronze sculptures of beloved characters from his books.

The Springfield Museum Quadrangle, a section of town with other museums and cultural institutions, adds to the city’s rich cultural appeal for its more than 154,000 residents.

If you like to travel, you’ll appreciate Springfield’s proximity to international airports. Coined the “Western Gate to New England,” Springfield is a 30-minute car ride from Hartford, Connecticut. Boston is 90 minutes, and New York City is two and a half hours by car. New England’s second-largest airport, Bradley International, is 16 miles from the county center. 

Unfortunately, Springfield’s convenient location comes at a price. Hampden County, in which Springfield resides, has the highest cost of living of all the counties on this list. This includes considerable median home values ($276,300) and high median monthly housing costs ($1,309), food costs ($696), and taxes ($767). For these reasons, Hampden County ranks among the top three most expensive of our 50 best places to retire. 

That said, Massachusetts doesn’t tax Social Security benefits, making living costs a bit more manageable. Springfield’s cost of living also pales in comparison to cities like San Francisco and New York. 

3. Albuquerque, New Mexico

Forget Florida. If you’re looking for sunny skies and mild winters without extreme heat and humidity, consider Albuquerque. Sitting at a mile above sea level, its high-desert climate is mild and dry, providing an average of 310 days of sunshine at an agreeable 44% average humidity. The city’s average annual rainfall is just 9 inches. 

Residents enjoy four distinct seasons, but Albuquerque maintains comfortable weather year-round, assuming you can handle dry, mid-90-degree highs during summer. The city’s top-ranked golf courses are open throughout the year, and you’ll regularly find many older adults out on the green practicing their swing—even in December.

Albuquerque’s county, Bernalillo County, boasts hundreds of health care establishments. This makes sense, given that Bernalillo County is the most populous county of all those we ranked. Over 674,000 people live in its borders, with approximately 83% residing in Albuquerque. 

If you have a goal of aging in place, you’ll appreciate the options to stay active within the city’s Paseo del Bosque (“Forest Walk”) Trail. The 16-mile trail follows the Rio Grande through Albuquerque’s riverside forest, offering a scenic path for walkers, cyclists, and even horseback riders. New Mexico also boasts small towns like Santa Rosa that will appeal to outdoors enthusiasts.

Beyond the trails, you can see what’s happening in the city’s art scene. The county has over 300 arts and entertainment establishments. 

For travel, you can access the newly renovated Albuquerque International Sunport Airport, located just four miles from the county center. Having an airport in town is ideal if you frequently travel or welcome out-of-state or overseas friends and family. 

4. Pueblo, Colorado

As the smallest of the cities on this list, Pueblo enjoys a population of about 110,000. Pueblo has more of a small-town feel stemming from community events like the Pueblo Chile & Frijoles Festival. The Historic Arkansas Riverwalk also lends itself to a slower pace of life. 

Besides local festivities, Pueblo provides residents with a variety of activities to keep them busy, including a long golf season, fly fishing at the Arkansas River, nature trails, historic districts, and ski slopes two and a half hours away. Thanks to its milder average temperatures and 300 annual days of sunshine, you can enjoy many of the city’s activities year-round.

FEMA also labels Pueblo as having a relatively low climate risk, and Denver International Airport is 120 miles from the county center. 

In Pueblo County, you’ll find median home values of $271,800 and monthly housing costs are $1,083. Average monthly tax costs of $612.

These costs of living are high when compared to smaller towns we ranked, but are in line with the larger cities mentioned in this article. 

The Bottom Line

Our four small cities feel approachable, offering culture, health care, and personality without the sprawl, costs, and noise of the nation’s most prominent cities. Toledo’s green spaces, Springfield’s connectivity, Albuquerque’s recreational opportunities, and Pueblo’s community events offer large-city living with small-town affordability.