This Michigan City Is Among the Top 5 Worst Places to Retire

A Michigan city finds itself at the wrong end of a list of the best places to retire in the United States.

WalletHub is out with its list of 2023's Best and Worst Places to Retire, and it might explain why so many of us in Michigan have grandparents who move to Florida in their golden years.

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What Makes a City a Good Place to Retire?

The study looked at the retirement-friendliness of 182 cities around the nation, with a focus on four main factors:

• Affordability - things like cost of living, taxes, and the cost of adult support services such as in-home care, etc.
• Activities - the variety of activities targeted to seniors
• Quality of Life - how many other seniors live in the area, transportation availability, weather, crime rates, and air and water quality
• Health Care - the quality and availability of health care providers, life expectancy, suicide and death rates.

Where Are the Best Places to Retire?

Once the data was crunched and calculated, it became clear that Florida is still the place for retirees to be - the state claims four of the top 5 retirement cities in America: Tampa (1), Fort Lauderdale (3), Orlando (4), and Miami (5). The only Top 5 representative that's not in the Sunshine State is second overall: Scottsdale, Arizona.

RELATED: How Long Would a $1 Million Retirement Last You in Michigan?

Montgomery, Alabama, takes honors as the most affordable location for retirees, but the city did not score as well when other parameters were considered. Washington, D.C., offers the most activities; while Pearl City, Hawaii, has the best quality of life for retirees. The highest health care rating is in South Burlington, Vermont.

Where Are the Worst Places to Retire?

1. Stockton, California

When all things are considered, this study finds that the absolute worst place for Americans to retire is Stockton, California.

2. Newark, New Jersey

Newark scores above average when it comes to the availability of age-appropriate activities for retirees, but not so well in the other categories.

3. Bakersfield, California

California has the reputation of being an expensive place to live, but Bakersfield is actually more affordable than over half the cities considered in this study. However, Bakersfield ranks close to the bottom for quality of life and access to activities for retirees.

4. San Bernardino, California

The study finds San Bernardino to be slightly more affordable than even Bakersfield, but it scores among the bottom 15 in the nation in nearly every other way.

5. Detroit, Michigan

Detroit's used to performing poorly in studies such as this, so it won't come as much of a shock to learn it's the 5th-worst place to retire in America. The Motor City ranks in the bottom half of every parameter, but it's worst in the nation when it comes to quality of life.

Don't want to leave Michigan? Check out these non-Detroit options.