Boise makes yet another list and Best place to Live, Work, Play and Reitre!

Boise, Idaho

Reflecting what retirees say they want, there’s a slightly bigger bias toward warmer climates in states like Florida, New Mexico and Arizona. Only about a half-dozen Best Places are located in what could be called chilly parts of the country.This group includes Bloomington, Ind., Fargo, N.D. and Pittsburgh.

But the bigger bias is the importance we place on day-to-day economic issues: the average price of a home, the cost of living and the tax burden on retirees. So there are no entries here from states where it costs a lot to get by, such as California, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York.

We reviewed data for hundreds of cities in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia. Besides the usual financial factors, we looked at weather, availability of doctors, serious crime rates and encouragement for an active retirement. To do this, we considered evaluations by Bicycling Magazine and volunteeringinamerica.org.

More and more retirees are working, at least initially. So we also took into account both unemployment rates and rankings of job and economic growth compiled by the Milken Institute.

Nationwide, the average price of an existing single-family house is $163,500, according to the National Association of Realtors. Only four cities on our list have median prices above that, and none really by all that much. The priciest, at $198,000, is Asheville, N.C. At the other end, the average price of a home in Atlanta is only $91,000, followed by Cape Coral, Fla. at $116,000 and Boise, Idaho, at $118,000.

Boise, Idaho
Fast Fact: Home of Boise State University’s famous blue football field
Pros: Low crime, low cost of living, average home price $118,000, above-average air quality, attractive semi-arid climate
Cons: Poor economy