5 Most Expensive Places To Retire In U.S. Are All In CA

Six of the ten most expensive cities in a recent ranking of potential U.S. retirement destinations are in California, including all of the top five.

U.S. News & World Report’s 2024 list of the best places to retire in the nation evaluated the country’s 150 largest metropolitan areas based on a retirement score made up of a weighted average of indexes for affordability, happiness, desirability, retiree taxes, job market and health care quality.

The most expensive place on the list — San Jose, with a median home price of $1.52 million — also had the lowest retirement score, meaning that while it came first in price it was last as a retirement destination at 150th.

The second most expensive city in the ranking was San Francisco. It was 140th on the list with a median home price of $1.11 million. Salinas was third priciest, ranked 142nd with the median home price coming in at $921,917.

The remaining ten most expensive cities are as follows, with median home price and list ranking included:

• San Diego, $919,499 (115th)
• Santa Rosa, $888,600 (143rd)
• Boulder, $871,730 (132nd)
• Los Angeles, $835,858 (127th)
• Naples, $806,604 (28th)
• Seattle, $769,983 (126th)
• Boston, $716,329 (62nd).