Yahoo Finance How Much Does It Cost To Retire in Cape Cod?
Taylor Swift, Meg Ryan, Harry Connick Jr., Dan Aykroyd, Tommy Hilfiger and JFK all at one point or another called Cape Cod home. Patti Page sang about it, and it even has its own cocktail -- if you've ever ordered a vodka cranberry, you've had a Cape Cod.
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The hook-shaped peninsula off Massachusetts stretches 40 miles into the Atlantic Ocean and contains 62 miles of some of the country's most coveted coastline. Many people flock there for vacation -- the Cape Cod National Seashore drew 4.1 million visitors even during the pandemic year of 2020. But only the chosen few live the dream of retiring in a beach community that was once the playground of the Kennedys.
But before you write off the idea as a pipe dream, consider that living out your golden years in Cape Cod might just be within reach.
To find out what it takes, GOBankingRates used data from HUD, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Sperling's Best and AreaVibes.
Because all of Cape Cod is in Barnstable County, there were several overlapping data points among all eight towns that made the list. The average 2022 rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,428 and the cost of healthcare is $4,364 per year, or $364 per month, across the board. That's not bad, considering the national average for healthcare is $5,177 per year, or $431 per month. That leaves the cost of groceries, livability scores (higher is better) and combined monthly expenditures as the only differentiators.
See how much it costs to live in Cape Cod.
Bourne
Monthly expenditures: $2,232
Livability score: 72
The average grocery bill runs Bourne residents $441 per month, or $5,288 per year. While that's the lowest on the list, it's still 7% above the national average, which is $4,942 per year or $412 per month.
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Yarmouth
Monthly expenditures: $2,233
Livability score: 78
In Yarmouth, groceries cost a little more than in Bourne, but only by about $10 per year. The annual total is $5,298, or $441 per month, which is about 7% higher than the national average.
Sandwich
Monthly expenditures: $2,237
Livability score: 72
In Sandwich, the average supermarket bill is 8.1% higher than the national average -- $5,342 per year. That works out to $445 per month.
Dennis
Monthly expenditures: $2,237
Livability score: 67
Residents of Dennis pay just a little more for groceries than their neighbors in Sandwich -- $5,347 per year. That's 8.2% higher than the national average.
Barnstable
Monthly expenditures: $2,239
Livability score: 66
In Barnstable, the cost of groceries jumps to 8.5% higher than the national average. The annual total is $5,362, or $447 per month.
Brewster
Monthly expenditures: $2,241
Livability score: 68
The average grocery bill in Brewster is $5,392 per year. That's $449 per month, which is 9.1% higher than the national average.
Falmouth
Monthly expenditures: $2,243
Livability score: 71
Groceries cost 9.5% more in Falmouth than they do in the country as a whole. The average cost is $451 per month or $5,411 per year.
Chatham
Monthly expenditures: $2,260
Livability score: 67
In all of Cape Cod, groceries are the most expensive in Chatham, where the average annual bill is $5,614 ($468 per month). That's 13.6% higher than the national average.
Methodology: To find the cost of retiring in Cape Cod, GOBankingRates first used Housing and Urban Development data to find (1) FY 2022 Florida Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, as sourced from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. GOBankingRates then used Sperling's Best to find the cost of living index for each selected area, looking at (2) grocery and (3) healthcare index scores. Next, GOBankingRates used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2020 Consumer Expenditure Survey to find the annual expenditure amount for both grocery ("food at home") and healthcare costs for people aged 65 and older to determine how much a retired person might spend on groceries and healthcare in Cape Cod monthly. GOBankingRates then added monthly housing, grocery and healthcare costs together to find the cost of retiring in Cape Cod. In order for a place to be qualified for the study, it (4) must have a livability score of 65 or above, as sourced from AreaVibes. All data was collected on and up to date as of Sept. 9, 2022.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How Much Does It Cost To Retire in Cape Cod?
