These are the best cities for retirement

These are the best cities for retirementThese are the best cities for retirementWhen the time has come to transition away from the rat race and move into the golden years of retirement, choosing where to go can feel like a dream come true. But with more than half of Americans having less than $10,000 in their bank account for retirement, the need to find a place where you can stretch your dollars the furthest is a top concern.According to finance nachrichten and features website GOBankingRatesnewly released, 2017 list of the 50 Cheapest Places to Retire, retirees looking for affordability may want to consider heading south - as Birmingham, Alabama ranked No. 1 on the list.FollowLadders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard coveringHappiness,Productivity,Job Satisfaction,Neuroscience, andmoreAlmost all of the cheapest places to retire are in the South or Midwest. So if youre looking for an affordable place to live in retirement, consider cities in those two regions, Camer on Huddleston, GOBankingRates Life + Money Columnist,told Ladders.Only one city on the West Coast - Spokane - and two cities in the North - Buffalo and Rochester, N.Y. - made it onto the list, she added.Researchers took a look atthe top 150 U.S. cities on Sperlings Best Places to Liveand boiled the list down to the top 50 cities for retirees - based on six cost of living factors, including the cost of healthcare, groceries, housing, transportation and overall cost of living.GOBankingRates compared each citys index to the average annual expenditures by people aged 65 and older, drawn from a 2015 survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, to figure out where retirees can live the most comfortably.Top cities to retire1.) Birmingham, AlabamaRetirees can get away with spending just $33,219 a year to live in Birmingham, including an average of $4,915 on healthcare (less than every other city in this ranking) and only $5,242 on rent annually (which is the monthly rent for some tiny apartments in Manhattan) As the cheapest city to retire in on the 50-city list, Birmingham boasts a cost of living thats a whopping 27.4% below the national average, among other points.Birmingham has many of the allures of urban life with a more affordable price tag than youll find in many similarly sized u-bahn areas, U.S. News and World wrote in its 2017 review of the city, adding that the town hosts the collegiate Southwestern Athletic Conference, the minor league Birmingham Barons baseball games and abundant outdoor activities including hiking trails in Red Mountain Park.The town also features more green space per capita than any otherU.S. city, according to GoBankingRates listing, and has 15 golf courses, several nearby lakes that offer some of the best fishing in the South and higher education institutions including the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Samford University, which have an abundance of concerts and arts programming.2.) motor city, MichiganYou can expect to spend $33,356 yearly in this city, the second-cheapest on the list. Annual health expenses in motor city are $5,994 and annual housing expenses are $3,177. Although Detroitfiled for bankruptcy in 2013 amid plunging population numbers and a nosedive by the struggling local auto industry,Detroit has taken great steps to re-brand itself as Americas Great Comeback City, according to GoBankingRates.The town features the award-winning Detroit Institute of the Arts, The Ann Arbor Art Fair, which presents crafts ranging from ceramics to paintings to jewelry, brings more than 500,000 people to the area every year, and Saugatuck, the artists colony of the Midwest, has dozens of galleries and a small, but engaged, population of retiree artists, according to MarketWatch.3.) Jackson, MissisippiYou can live on just $33,676 a year - including $4,925 on housing and $5,514 on healthcare - in Jackson, which touts itself as the City with Soul.Big-city draws include a planetarium, ballet, zoo and op era, and the annual Rhythm and Blues Festival is a favorite. Students from both Jackson State University and Millsaps College are active in town, and seniors are welcome to continue education on campus, according toSouthern LivingMagazine.4.) Memphis, TennesseeYoull spend an average of $6,354 a year for housing and $5,694 annually for healthcare in Memphis, where you can live comfortably on $33,859 a year, analysts found.The town, which served as a springboard for Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry dem wind abgewandte seite Lewis and others who worked with Memphis-based DJ and producer Sam Phillips Sun Records, is awash in southern rock and blues history.Graceland, the mansion that was home to The King, is a major Memphis tourist attraction, attracting over 600,000 visitors annually, especially during Tribute Week around August 16, the anniversary of Presleys death, MarketWatch reported.5.) Toledo, OhioYou can expect to spend $35,095 a year, including $6,174 on healthcare and $4,925 on housing in the cheapest of the five Ohio cities in the rankings.Toledo was featured in the Milken Institutes Best Cities for Successful Aging report in 2014, where it ranked No. 8 out of the top 20 large metro areas.Toledo boasts safety, affordability, ample recreational facilities, and quality hospitals. Finding work or launching a business, however, can be difficult in the local economic environment. Health issues may weaken the workforce, the report said.Unhealthy behavior and chronic diseases and lack of specialty health-care facilities were listed as areas that need improvement in the city.Cities on the bottom of the GOBankingRates listRounding out the bottom of this list were Jacksonville, Florida at No. 45, Lincoln, Nebraska, at No. 46, Sioux Falls, South Dakota at No. 47, San Antonio, Texas at No. 48, Tampa, Florida at No. 49 and Spokane, Washington at No. 50.These are the best cities for retirementWhen the time has come to transition away from the rat race and move into the golden years of retirement, choosing where to go can feel like a dream come true. But with more than half of Americans having less than $10,000 in their bank account for retirement, the need to find a place where you can stretch your dollars the furthest is a top concern.According to finance news and features website GOBankingRatesnewly released, 2017 list of the 50 Cheapest Places to Retire, retirees looking for affordability may want to consider heading south - as Birmingham, Alabama ranked No. 1 on the list.Almost all of the cheapest places to retire are in the South or Midwest. So if youre looking for an affordable place to live in retirement, consider cities in those two regions, Cameron Huddleston, GOBankingRates Life + Money Columnist,told Ladders.Only one city on the West Coast - Spokane - and two cities in the North - Buffalo and Rochester, N.Y. - made it onto the list, she added.Researchers took a look atthe top 150 U.S. cities on Sperlings Best Places to Liveand b oiled the list down to the top 50 cities for retirees - based on six cost of living factors, including the cost of healthcare, groceries, housing, transportation and overall cost of living.GOBankingRates compared each citys index to the average annual expenditures by people aged 65 and older, drawn from a 2015 survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, to figure out where retirees can live the most comfortably.Top cities to retire1.) Birmingham, AlabamaRetirees can get away with spending just $33,219 a year to live in Birmingham, including an average of $4,915 on healthcare (less than every other city in this ranking) and only $5,242 on rent annually (which is the monthly rent for some tiny apartments in Manhattan) As the cheapest city to retire in on the 50-city list, Birmingham boasts a cost of living thats a whopping 27.4% below the national average, among other points.Birmingham has many of the allures of urban life with a more affordable price tag than youll find in many s imilarly sized metro areas, U.S. News and World wrote in its 2017 review of the city, adding that the town hosts the collegiate Southwestern Athletic Conference, the minor league Birmingham Barons baseball games and abundant outdoor activities including hiking trails in Red Mountain Park.The town also features more green space per capita than any otherU.S. city, according to GoBankingRates listing, and has 15 golf courses, several nearby lakes that offer some of the best fishing in the South and higher education institutions including the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Samford University, which have an abundance of concerts and arts programming.2.) Detroit, MichiganYou can expect to spend $33,356 yearly in this city, the second-cheapest on the list. Annual health expenses in Detroit are $5,994 and annual housing expenses are $3,177. Although Detroitfiled for bankruptcy in 2013 amid plunging population numbers and a nosedive by the struggling local auto industry,Detroit has taken great steps to re-brand itself as Americas Great Comeback City, according to GoBankingRates.The town features the award-winning Detroit Institute of the Arts, The Ann Arbor Art Fair, which presents crafts ranging from ceramics to paintings to jewelry, brings more than 500,000 people to the area every year, and Saugatuck, the artists colony of the Midwest, has dozens of galleries and a small, but engaged, population of retiree artists, according to MarketWatch.3.) Jackson, MissisippiYou can live on just $33,676 a year - including $4,925 on housing and $5,514 on healthcare - in Jackson, which touts itself as the City with Soul.Big-city draws include a planetarium, ballet, zoo and opera, and the annual Rhythm and Blues Festival is a favorite. Students from both Jackson State University and Millsaps College are active in town, and seniors are welcome to continue education on campus, according toSouthern LivingMagazine.4.) Memphis, TennesseeYoull spend an average of $6,354 a year for housing and $5,694 annually for healthcare in Memphis, where you can live comfortably on $33,859 a year, analysts found.The town, which served as a springboard for Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and others who worked with Memphis-based DJ and producer Sam Phillips Sun Records, is awash in southern rock and blues history.Graceland, the mansion that was home to The King, is a major Memphis tourist attraction, attracting over 600,000 visitors annually, especially during Tribute Week around August 16, the anniversary of Presleys death, MarketWatch reported.5.) Toledo, OhioYou can expect to spend $35,095 a year, including $6,174 on healthcare and $4,925 on housing in the cheapest of the five Ohio cities in the rankings.Toledo was featured in the Milken Institutes Best Cities for Successful Aging report in 2014, where it ranked No. 8 out of the top 20 large metro areas.Toledo boasts safety, affordability, ample recreational facilities, and quality hospitals. Finding work or launching a business, however, can be difficult in the local economic environment. Health issues may weaken the workforce, the report said.Unhealthy behavior and chronic diseases and lack of specialty health-care facilities were listed as areas that need improvement in the city.Cities on the bottom of the GOBankingRates listRounding out the bottom of this list were Jacksonville, Florida at No. 45, Lincoln, Nebraska, at No. 46, Sioux Falls, South Dakota at No. 47, San Antonio, Texas at No. 48, Tampa, Florida at No. 49 and Spokane, Washington at No. 50.