Some of the worst places to retire were mostly found in the Southern and Western regions of the U.S. due to high crime rates, foreclosure activity, among other factors, according to a Grandparents.com article published in Huffington Post.
St. Louis, Las Vegas and Modesto, California, rounded out the top three rankings of Grandparents.com’s worst retirement destinations, each of which playing host to higher than average foreclosure or home vacancy rates.
With a nearly 20% vacancy rate for homes and apartments, as well as having one of the highest violent and property crime rates in the country, St. Louis far surpassed the national average vacancy rate of 11.38%.
A high foreclosure rate helped Las Vegas rank in at the number two spot, as Sin City is considered one of the highest foreclosure metros in the country when it comes to “bank-seized ‘vampire’ and homeowner-abandoned ‘zombie’ foreclosures,” the article writes, citing data from RealtyTrac. The city is also home to a high unemployment rate, which is 6% higher than the national average.
Lack of public transit was also a factor for several cities such as Atlanta and Little Rock, Arkansas, deemed as retirement destinations to avoid, as well as increased levels of air pollution that could possibly aggregate respiratory conditions among older adults.
See what other cities made the list.
Written by Jason Oliva
