Yahoo Finance 9 Best East Coast Cities To Retire on a Budget of $2,000 a Month
Retirement looks different for everyone. While some people may have retirement income through work-sponsored 401ks or investments to draw from, many people will just be living on their Social Security benefits.
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The current Social Security benefits for an individual are $1,827 per month for an individual and $2,927 for a couple, (after recent cost of living increases), according to the Social Security Administration. Living on Social Security income can severely limit where you live in retirement, as well, and some parts of the country are more budget friendly than others, making location a top factor in where some folks on a budget retire.
To find the 9 best cities to retire on the East Coast for $2,000 or less, GOBankingRates drew data from Zillow for rental prices; Sperling's Best for a cost of living index for every city on the list; from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2021 Consumer Expenditure Survey to find the annual expenditure amount for both grocery and healthcare costs for people aged 65; and AreaVibes to find cities with a livability score of 60 or higher.
Notably, all but one city on this list is in Pennsylvania, the only other city being in New York.
9. Erie, Pennsylvania
February 2023 average rent: $1,041
Monthly expenditures: $1,922.37
While rent in Erie is on the higher side for this list, other expenditures are among the lowest, including average monthly grocery costs, which are $351.89 per month, and monthly healthcare costs, $529.01 per month.
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8. Altoona, Pennsylvania
February 2023 average rent: $1,025
Monthly expenditures: $1,906.13
Altoona also has higher rent for the cities on this list, though it is still almost $1,000 lower than the national average. But groceries are a few percentage points lower than the national average, and healthcare is 11.9% cheaper than the national average.
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7. Greensburg, Pennsylvania
February 2023 average rent: $986
Monthly expenditures: $1,898.15
In addition to having rent that is less than $1,000, the livability score in Greensburg is a decent 71.
6. Lockport, New York
February 2023 average rent: $891
Monthly expenditures: $1,878.10
The only city on this list not in Pennsylvania, Lockport's rent is more than $1,100 below national average. It also has the second highest livability score on this list, at 74.
5. Washington, Pennsylvania
February 2023 average rent: $954
Monthly expenditures: $1,852.83
In the town of Washington, Pennsylvania, all expenses are under the national average, with average monthly healthcare cost at $526.66 per month, and groceries at $371.75.
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4. Butler, Pennsylvania
February 2023 average rent: $883
Monthly expenditures: $1,788.60
Rent in Butler is a reasonable $883 here, groceries are right at the national average of $374.75 per month, and healthcare, which is $531.35 per month, is $54 below the national average. With a livability score of 73, this is a great town to retire in.
3. New Castle, Pennsylvania
February 2023 average rent: $863
Monthly expenditures: $1,733.53
In New Castle, rent is more than $1100 below national average, while healthcare is $73 cheaper than what other U.S. residents are paying.
2. Johnstown, Pennsylvania
February 2023 average rent: $761
Monthly expenditures: $1,703.17
Johnstown is where your $2,000 budget is going to go quite far, leaving you almost $300 leftover after necessities such as housing, healthcare and groceries.
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1. Williamsport, Pennsylvania
February 2023 average rent: $745
Monthly expenditures: $1,701.11
Williamsport takes the No. 1 spot, with the lowest average rent on this list and the highest livability score, 77. While overall expenditures are the lowest on this list, monthly groceries and healthcare are only the tiniest bit lower than national average.
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Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates found the best Midwest cities to retire on a budget of $2,000 dollars or less. GOBankingRates used Zillow March 2023 data to find every city on the east coast (CT, DE, FL, GA, ME, MD, MA, NH, NY, NJ, NC, PA, RI, SC, VT, AND VA) that has an (1) March 2023 monthly rent of $1,200 dollars or less. GOBankingRates then used Sperling's Best to find the cost of living index for every city on the list, looking at (2) grocery and (3) healthcare index scores. Next, GOBankingRates used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2021 Consumer Expenditure Survey to find the annual expenditure amount for both grocery ("food at home") and healthcare costs for people aged 65 and older in order to find how much a person 65 and over would spend on groceries and healthcare in each city on a monthly basis. GOBankingRates then added monthly housing, grocery and healthcare costs together to find where a person 65 and older could survive on $1,800 or less. In order for a city to be qualified for the study, it had to have a livabilty score of 60 or higher as sourced from AreaVibes and be one of the 1,500 largest housing markets according to Zillow . All data was collected on and up to date as of April 25, 2023.
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 9 Best East Coast Cities To Retire on a Budget of $2,000 a Month
