life after 60

Houston relaxes among top 10 on new list of best U.S. cities to retire in

Houston is one of the most appealing places for retirees, the report found.

Retired folks relocate for a variety of reasons, but moving to a place with a lower cost of living (and more relaxed lifestyle) are the best reasons for moving to a place like Houston, which was just named one of the best cities to put away those work boots.

Houston ranked No. 7 in SmartAsset's new national ranking of "Where Retirees Are Moving – 2024 Study," published May 2, with the seventh highest rate of retirees flocking to the city.

To determine where retirement-age Americans are moving, the report relied on Census Bureau data from 182 large U.S. cities and all 50 state populations with people aged 60 and older. Net migration was determined by subtracting the number of retirees who moved out of their cities in 2022, and the number that moved into the respective cities from out-of-state.

The report found Houston's population of retirement-age folks amounted to more than 411,000 people, representing 17.8 percent of the total population. Nearly 4,700 seniors moved into the city from out-of-state, and more than 3,500 moved out, showing a net migration of 1,139 retirees.

Retirement lifestyles don't seem to be as compatible with the status quo in Austin or Dallas, which landed far outside the top 100 cities as No. 133 and No. 157, respectively.

So, why are retirees picking Houston over most other U.S. cities? Besides being home to some of the best medical centers and hospitals, the city is flourishing with diversity, and the (mostly) favorable weather also adds to the city's appeal.

"As people retire, their goals shift, often causing them to reconsider where they’re living and how they spend their money," the report's author wrote. "Places with a high cost of living, high taxes and cold winters, for example, could influence retirees to move to warmer locations where they can stretch their retirement savings further and enjoy their free time."

Other Texas cities that earned spots in the top 10 are San Antonio (No. 2) and Fort Worth (No. 8). San Antonio landed the silver medal as the second most attractive U.S. city for retirees, after more than 4,100 seniors moved into the city in 2022. Fewer than 1,200 made the opposite move, showing a net migration of 2,936 retirees.

Fort Worth had a net migration of 1,130, with 2,119 seniors moving into the city and 989 moving out in 2022.

The top 10 U.S. cities that had the highest inflow of retirement-age folks are:

No. 1 – Mesa, Arizona
No. 2 – San Antonio, Texas
No. 3 – Henderson, Nevada
No. 4 – St. Petersburg, Florida
No. 5 – Murfreesboro, Tennessee
No. 6 – Chattanooga, Tennessee
No. 7 – Houston, Texas
No. 8 – Fort Worth, Texas
No. 9 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 10 – Clearwater, Florida

Texas is an overall top destination for retirees
In a statewide comparison, Texas came out on top as the No. 4 top state for retirees. The Lone Star State's 60-plus demographic adds up to nearly 5.7 million people, making up 19 percent of the total population.

Less than 69,000 seniors moved into Texas in 2022, with a little more than 50,000 making the opposite move, creating a net migration of 18,742 retirement-age residents.

Texans may want to take the city-level findings with a grain of salt, as the report points out that its data doesn't factor in-state migration, only state-to-state migration. Plus, not all retirees are 60 years old, nor do they all live in one singular place.

"For example, if a person moved to Phoenix from Scottsdale, [Arizona,] they would not be factored into our data," the report added. "Some retirees might live in multiple places throughout the year; this is not reflected in our metrics."

The three states that outperformed Texas in the statewide analysis were Florida (No. 1), Arizona (No. 2), and South Carolina (No. 3). North Carolina rounded out the top five.

The full report can be found on smartasset.com.

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safe suburbs

Houston neighbor shines on new 2025 list of safest American cities

Photo courtesy of Visit Pearland

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New Year's resolutions can come in many forms, and if relocating to a safe Houston-area suburb is high on the list for 2025, Pearland is the place to be.

Pearland was declared the No. 13 safest city in America for 2025 in a new study by personal finance advisors MoneyGeek. The website's experts examined the most recent FBI crime statistics (from 2023) to determine the cost of crime in 292 U.S. cities with populations over 100,000 residents.

The estimated cost of crime in this Houston suburb – which the study calculated as the "societal cost of crime per resident" – was $471 in 2023.

Pearland's crime cost per capita is far lower the national crime cost, which was $2,178 per resident.

The report also analyzed the city's violent crime and property crime rates, and Pearland had the 11th lowest rate of violent crime in 2023 with only 106 crimes committed for every 100,000 residents.

The city didn't fare as well with its property crime rate; there were 1,669 property crimes committed in 2023 per 100,000 residents, which was the 68th lowest rate out of all 292 U.S. cities.

However, that's still a better rate than most places in the country. Pearland residents can be smug that they don't live in Oakland, California, which had the highest property crime rate in the nation with 10,117 crimes committed per 100,000 residents.

Finally, MoneyGeek determined each city's total cost of crime, which the study defines as the "economic losses attributed to crime and its cost to society (individuals, community and nationally) in millions."

In this metric, Pearland had the seventh-lowest total crime cost, which was less than $60 million in 2023.

While some of these statistics may seem scary, Tulane University associate professor of political science Geoffrey T. Dancy warns it is unwise to make assumptions about a city based solely on its crime rates.

"We live in an unequal society," said Dancy in the report. "One often overlooked indicator of that inequality is who gets to engage in the politics of safety. Those who are objectively safe often fear crime and act on it in the counterproductive policies they support. Those who are actually victimized by crime and terrorized by gun violence pay the price and are rarely heard."

Elsewhere in Texas, the Dallas suburb of Frisco nearly topped the list as the No. 2 safest city in America with a $287 crime cost per capita. Other safe Texas cities in the report include Plano (No. 18), Sugar Land (No. 20), McKinney (No. 22), Round Rock (No. 26), Grand Prairie (No. 42), and League City (No. 48).

The top 10 safest American cities for 2025 are:

No. 1 – Ramapo Town, New York
No. 2 – Frisco, Texas
No. 3 – Irvine, California
No. 4 – Fishers, Indiana
No. 5 – Lakewood Township, New Jersey
No. 6 – Cary, North Carolina
No. 7 – Pembroke Pines, Florida
No. 8 – Elk Grove, California
No. 9 – Surprise, Arizona
No. 10 – Sterling Heights, Michigan

For the purpose of the study, violent crime rates were determined based on the number of murders and non-negligent manslaughters, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults per 100,000 residents; and property crimes were defined as the rates of burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft offenses per 100,000 residents.

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