25 Safest and Cheapest Cities To Retire in Florida

Retirees heading to Florida have a few needs they want met in their retirement years. Ideally, the city they relocate to should be in a safe area with an affordable cost of living. Luckily, 25 Florida cities fit the bill.

To find out which Florida cities are the most affordable and safest to retire in, GOBankingRates calculated the population percentage of residents aged 65 and over in each city. The average single family home value and mortgage costs were factored in, and the latter was added to the average expenditure for the total monthly cost of living. Crime and violent crime rates were also sourced from the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer to calculate the property per 100,000 residents.

From 25th place to number one, see which 25 cities in Florida are most affordable and safe for retirees.

• Population 65 and over (%): 31.58%
• January 2024 average home value: $395,243
• Average mortgage: $2,352
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,501
• Monthly total cost of living: $3,853
• Violent crime rate: 180.1
• Property crime rate: 1,855.9

• Population 65 and over (%): 40.13%
• January 2024 average home value: $2,412,401
• Average mortgage: $14,357
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,659
• Monthly total cost of living: $16,016
• Violent crime rate: 219.3
• Property crime rate: 986.8

• Population 65 and over (%): 12.52%
• January 2024 average home value: $585,137
• Average mortgage: $3,482
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,579
• Monthly total cost of living: $5,062
• Violent crime rate: 173.2
• Property crime rate: 1,775.8

• Population 65 and over (%): 21.55%
• January 2024 average home value: $276,493
• Average mortgage: $1,646
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,500
• Monthly total cost of living: $3,145
• Violent crime rate: 189.6
• Property crime rate: 1,349.2

• Population 65 and over (%): 19.01%
• January 2024 average home value: $488,234
• Average mortgage: $2,906
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,602
• Monthly total cost of living: $4,508
• Violent crime rate: 127.5
• Property crime rate: 1,208.3

• Population 65 and over (%): 46.30%
• January 2024 average home value: $9,708,076
• Average mortgage: $57,778
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,550
• Monthly total cost of living: $59,327
• Violent crime rate: 0.0
• Property crime rate: 356.3

• Population 65 and over (%): 23.17%
• January 2024 average home value: $304,198
• Average mortgage: $1,810
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,541
• Monthly total cost of living: $3,352
• Violent crime rate: 209.3
• Property crime rate: 523.2

• Population 65 and over (%): 23.48%
• January 2024 average home value: $2,274,397
• Average mortgage: $13,536
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,670
• Monthly total cost of living: $15,206
• Violent crime rate: 0.0
• Property crime rate: 2,996.3

• Population 65 and over (%): 20.16%
• January 2024 average home value: $410,143
• Average mortgage: $2,441
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,451
• Monthly total cost of living: $3,892
• Violent crime rate: 232.7
• Property crime rate: 1,338.1

• Population 65 and over (%): 10.00%
• January 2024 average home value: $500,289
• Average mortgage: $2,977
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,625
• Monthly total cost of living: $4,603
• Violent crime rate: 89.7
• Property crime rate: 607.3

• Population 65 and over (%): 39.68%
• January 2024 average home value: $844,724
• Average mortgage: $5,027
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,610
• Monthly total cost of living: $6,638
• Violent crime rate: 22.6
• Property crime rate: 384.5

• Population 65 and over (%): 17.93%
• January 2024 average home value: $275,125
• Average mortgage: $1,637
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,493
• Monthly total cost of living: $3,130
• Violent crime rate: 120.9
• Property crime rate: 1,729.4

• Population 65 and over (%): 36.49%
• January 2024 average home value: $357,166
• Average mortgage: $2,126
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,553
• Monthly total cost of living: $3,679
• Violent crime rate: 64.7
• Property crime rate: 910.2

• Population 65 and over (%): 28.35%
• January 2024 average home value: $347,517
• Average mortgage: $2,068
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,542
• Monthly total cost of living: $3,610
• Violent crime rate: 119.6
• Property crime rate: 943.7

• Population 65 and over (%): 24.99%
• January 2024 average home value: $359,616
• Average mortgage: $2,140
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,498
• Monthly total cost of living: $3,639
• Violent crime rate: 45.3
• Property crime rate: 1,308.6

• Population 65 and over (%): 24.73%
• January 2024 average home value: $654,788
• Average mortgage: $3,897
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,552
• Monthly total cost of living: $5,449
• Violent crime rate: 166.8
• Property crime rate: 1,198.0

• Population 65 and over (%): 16.96%
• January 2024 average home value: $219,248
• Average mortgage: $1,305
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,461
• Monthly total cost of living: $2,765
• Violent crime rate: 274.7
• Property crime rate: 1,609.1

• Population 65 and over (%): 29.82%
• January 2024 average home value: $133,647
• Average mortgage: $795
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,505
• Monthly total cost of living: $2,301
• Violent crime rate: 142.7
• Property crime rate: 356.6

• Population 65 and over (%): 32.43%
• January 2024 average home value: $545,121
• Average mortgage: $3,244
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,540
• Monthly total cost of living: $4,784
• Violent crime rate: 56.0
• Property crime rate: 615.6

• Population 65 and over (%): 19.52%
• January 2024 average home value: $677,909
• Average mortgage: $4,035
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,561
• Monthly total cost of living: $5,595
• Violent crime rate: 129.1
• Property crime rate: 1,190.6

• Population 65 and over (%): 58.61%
• January 2024 average home value: $1,501,725
• Average mortgage: $8,938
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,549
• Monthly total cost of living: $10,486
• Violent crime rate: 86.8
• Property crime rate: 520.5

• Population 65 and over (%): 29.46%
• January 2024 average home value: $700,642
• Average mortgage: $4,170
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,500
• Monthly total cost of living: $5,670
• Violent crime rate: 61.9
• Property crime rate: 773.8

• Population 65 and over (%): 29.53%
• January 2024 average home value: $481,781
• Average mortgage: $2,867
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,488
• Monthly total cost of living: $4,356
• Violent crime rate: 89.4
• Property crime rate: 759.8

• Population 65 and over (%): 17.24%
• January 2024 average home value: $528,348
• Average mortgage: $3,144
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,509
• Monthly total cost of living: $4,653
• Violent crime rate: 106.3
• Property crime rate: 868.2

• Population 65 and over (%): 50.09%
• January 2024 average home value: $655,253
• Average mortgage: $3,900
• Monthly expenditure cost: $1,524
• Monthly total cost of living: $5,424
• Violent crime rate: 58.2
• Property crime rate: 407.5

Disclaimer: Photos are for illustrative purposes only. In many cases, the closest major city outside of the city/county mentioned it the article was used.

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed cities in Florida to find the cheapest and safest cities to retire. First GOBankingRates found the [1] total population and the [2] population for residents aged 65 for each city in Florida as sourced from the US Census American Community Survey. Using these populations, the population percentage of residents aged 65 and over can be calculated. The [3] average single family home value from January 2024 was sourced from Zillow Home Value Index and using the [4] national average 30-year fixed mortgage as sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Data, the [5] average mortgage cost can be calculated for each city. The cost of living indexes were found including; [6] Grocery cost of living index, [7] Healthcare cost of living index, [8] Utilities cost of living index, [9] Transportation cost of living index, [10] Miscellaneous cost of living index all sourced from Sperlings BestPlaces and using the [11] national average cost for each expenditure as sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, the [12] average costs for each expenditure can be calculated. Adding the average expenditure cost to the average mortgage cost gives the [13] total monthly cost of living for each city. The [14] property crime count and the [15] violent crime count were sourced from the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer and using the total population the [16] property crime rate per 100,000 and the [17] violent crime rate per 100,000 can be calculated. The [18] median household income for residents aged 65 and over was sourced from the US Census American Community Survey. The [5] average mortgage was scored and weighted at 1.00, the [12] average expenditure costs were scored and weighted at 1.00, the [18] household income of residents aged 65 and over was scored and weighted at 1.00, the [16] property crime rate per 100,000 residents was scored and weighted at 1.00, and the [17] violent crime rate was scored and weighted at 1.00. All the scores were summed up and sorted to show the safest and cheapest cities to retire in Florida. All data was collected and is up to date as of March 4th, 2024.

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