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When it comes time to say goodbye to the workforce, where are you going to go? If you’re in Pennsylvania, you should pack up your belongings and look for a home in Elizabethtown, the best place to retire in the state.
How do we know this? It’s part of Movoto Real Estate’s mission. For the past six months we’ve been dutifully finding the best places to live in each state (Pennsylvania included). Now we’re expanding our types of rankings to include the best places to retire in a given state. Here are the 10 best places to retire in Pennsylvania:
1. Elizabethtown Borough
2. Borough of Waynesboro
3. City of Greensburg
4. City of Lebanon
5. City of Pittsburgh
6. City of Pottsville
7. Town of Bloomsburg
8. City of Philadelphia
9. Oil City
10. Borough of Chambersburg (tie)
10. Columbia Borough (tie)
How did Elizabethtown beat back the other places on our list? Is Philly really the eighth-best place to retire in Pennsylvania? Find out how each of the top 10 places on our list fared below. First, however, here’s an explanation of how we came up with our list. As always with our rankings, shuffle(board) on down to the bottom of the post for a chart that details places that are not in our top 10.
How We Did It
To create our list, we used the U.S. Census (2010) to track down all the places in Pennsylvania with more than 10,000 people. This left us with 68 places scattered across the state. With this list in hand, we ranked each place across five categories from one to 68 with the lower the number being the best. Finally, we took the average rank across all our categories. The place with the lowest rank, in this case Elizabethtown, was crowned the winner.
The criteria we used to create our ranking were:
- Cost of living
- Crime rate
- Amenities per person
- Weather
- Distance to nearest international airport
There are a couple things to note about our criteria. We used Yelp to find the total number of libraries, restaurants, physicians, arts and entertainment locations, shopping establishments, and organizations that offer adult education. This became the number we used to analyze the total amenities per person. Additionally, our weather criterion is made up of two separate subcategories: the average summertime temperature and air quality.
1. Elizabethtown Borough
Elizabethtown is where you go in Pennsylvania when you wrap up your 9-to-5 work life. Why? This borough placed well in four of our five criteria, with the only area it didn’t excel in being cost of living. Elizabethtown is relatively close to an international airport, the weather is fantastic, and, compared to the other places on our list, it has a respectable crime rate.
2. Borough of Waynesboro
What makes this borough in southern PA one of the best places to retire in The Keystone State? The weather, for one. This place in Franklin County has an average summer temperature of 73 degrees. Additionally, Waynesboro’s air quality scored a 35 (one is best). These two factors helped Waynesboro take the No. 1 spot for our weather criterion. A second, just as integral reason Waynesboro drubbed most of the of the places on our list was for its amenities. For this criterion, the borough was the eighth best place in Pennsylvania.
3. City of Greensburg
It was Greensburg’s weather and distance to an international airport that helped push it into our top three; the city placed fifth and ninth, respectively, for these criterion. According to our data, Greensburg is a scant 10 miles from an international airport, meaning retirees have access to the travel they long for. As for weather, the average summer temperature is 71 degrees and the air quality scored a 36 (one is best).
4. City of Lebanon
We wouldn’t say Lebanon trounced our No. 5 best places to retire, but the city did walk away with the No. 4 spot. Where Lebanon cleaned up was for its weather and amenities. On the flip side, the city’s crime kept it from ranking higher. According to our data, the average summer temperature in Lebanon is a comfortable 72 degrees, while its air quality earned a 37 (one is best). But what about the crime rate? Lebanon had a total of 2,856 crimes per 100,000 people. For comparison, Franklin Park had just 407 crimes per 100,000 people.
5. City of Pittsburgh
The folks of Pittsburgh are well-versed with Pittsburgh. We’ve already named it one of the smartest cities in the country, and dropped some knowledge about what people should know before they more there, so we’re more than happy to find out the city is among the best places to retire in Pennsylvania. How did this happen? Pittsburgh is close to an international airport and is filled with amenities. Where the city didn’t excel in is crime. For this criterion, Pittsburgh earned the No. 46 spot for having 4,063 crimes per 100,000 people.
6. City of Pottsville
Our No. 6 city has all the makings of an excellent place to kick back and enjoy the simple life; the weather is nice, the cost of living is relatively low, and crime isn’t a major concern when compared to the rest of the places on our list. But if you’re interested in traveling during your golden years, you’ll need to account for the drive time to the nearest international airport. At 61 miles, Pottsville took the No. 46 spot for this criterion.
7. Town of Bloomsburg
This town in Columbia County earned accolades for its weather and cost of living. With an average summertime temperature of 70 degrees and an air quality score of 30, Bloomsburg took the No. 7 spot for this criterion. As for cost of living, Bloomsburg brought home the No. 13 spot. Still, as we mentioned earlier, many of the places on our list have a cost of living below the national average, yet placed low because they were being compared to other PA places. Bloomsburg is another example. The town earned a score of 83, 17 points below the national average of 100.
8. City of Philadelphia
Another of PA’s largest cities, next to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia earned its spot on our list thanks to its amenities, weather, and proximity to an international airport. It’s not all good news, however. What kept The City of Brotherly Love from climbing higher on our list was its cost of living and crime. In both cases, Philly brought home No. 60 rank. The cost of living in Philly is one point higher than the national average, so while it ranked poorly for this, it’s not necessarily bad in some regards. As for crime, our data shows there are 5,088 crimes per 100,000 residents.
9. Oil City
Oil City has the lowest cost of living of any of the places we looked out in our analysis. In other words, this should light a fire underneath you to check this place out if you are saying goodbye to your cubicle. What made this place so fantastic besides its cost of living? Its crime rate is low at 1,303 crimes per 100,000 people.
10. Borough of Chambersburg (tie)
The first borough in our No. 10 spot, Chambersburg and its partner Columbia, just edged out No. 11 New Castle. In Chambersburg’s case, its weather had a massive impact on its ranking. The borough ranked No. 1 in this criterion. The average summer temperature is 73 degrees, while its air quality scored a 35 (one is best). It was the borough’s distance to an international airport that kept it from flying up our list; it’s 64 miles from the nearest international airport.
10. Columbia Borough (tie)
The final location on our list, Columbia had no single criterion that helped push it into our top 10. Instead, it was a mix of middle ranks that gave Columbia its placement. This said, Columbia placed No. 12 for its distance to an international airport and No. 18 for its weather. Where it didn’t fare well was for its amenities per person, which were low enough to bring home a No. 51 rank.
Where Not To Retire
Where shouldn’t the recently “funemployed” be hanging their hats? The cities at the bottom of our list were Easton (No. 64), Lansdale (No. 65), Pottstown (No. 66), Coatesville (No. 67), and Emmaus (No. 68). As the worst place to retire in Pennsylvania, Emmaus ranked poorly for its amenities per person, cost of living, and distance to an international airport.
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