Forbes America’s Recession-Proof Cities To Retire In
October 16, 2009
Four cities in the Lone Star State make the list. The Dallas-Ft. Worth metro area; Houston, just two spots behind it; Austin at No. 6; and San Antonio in the No. 10 spot. All four cities are benefiting from some positive Texan trends.
“In Texas, it was a relatively mild recession,” says Eduardo Martinez, senior economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “All our projections are for quite a bit of growth. In terms of job creation, more people are moving out there, and families are getting bigger. The fundamentals for Texas are a lot stronger than those of other peer large states.”
Behind the Numbers
To form our list, we looked at the country’s 40 largest metropolitan statistical areas and measured them for: current median home price and five-year projected home price from Moody’s Economy.com; median monthly housing expense from the Census Bureau; cost of living index from the Council for Community and Economic Research; median income for householders over age 65 from the Census Bureau; five-year job growth outlook from Moody’s Economy.com; and, since every retiree should get some sunshine in their golden years, we included sunny day statistics from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The figures here represent each city’s rank based on the measures above.
| Rank | Metro Area | Metro Population | Sunny Days | Income 65 and over | Median Home Price | Home Price Change ’09-’14 | Job Growth Forecast ’09-’14 | Cost of Living | Median Monthly Housing Cost | TOTAL |
| 1 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA | 5,376,285 | 17 | 17 | 7 | 17 | 5 | 11 | 23 | 97 |
| 2 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 6,300,006 | 16 | 10 | 17 | 35 | 3 | 6 | 16 | 103 |
| 3 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 2,733,761 | 9 | 35 | 10 | 22 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 107 |
| 4 | Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX | 5,728,143 | 21 | 18 | 15 | 33 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 108 |
| 5 | St. Louis, MO-IL | 2,816,710 | 26 | 27 | 6 | 29 | 17 | 3 | 4 | 112 |
| 5 | Austin-Round Rock, TX | 1,652,602 | 17 | 4 | 24 | 34 | 1 | 14 | 18 | 112 |
| 7 | Las Vegas-Paradise, NV | 1,865,746 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 26 | 10 | 25 | 30 | 113 |
| 8 | Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ | 4,281,899 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 20 | 14 | 34 | 22 | 114 |
| 9 | Kansas City, MO-KS | 2,002,047 | 17 | 22 | 11 | 28 | 16 | 15 | 8 | 117 |
| 10 | San Antonio, TX | 2,031,445 | 17 | 28 | 16 | 36 | 2 | 19 | 2 | 120 |
| 11 | Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC | 1,701,799 | 15 | 30 | 23 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 122 |
| 12 | Columbus, OH | 1,773,120 | 35 | 26 | 9 | 9 | 30 | 8 | 9 | 126 |
| 12 | San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA | 3,001,072 | 8 | 5 | 36 | 5 | 26 | 9 | 37 | 126 |
| 14 | Jacksonville, FL | 1,313,228 | 13 | 8 | 14 | 32 | 34 | 13 | 15 | 129 |
| 15 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 3,229,878 | 22 | 14 | 21 | 10 | 13 | 22 | 29 | 131 |
| 16 | Denver-Aurora, CO /1 | 2,506,626 | 7 | 16 | 27 | 22 | 12 | 23 | 25 | 132 |
| 16 | Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, CA | 2,109,832 | 3 | 7 | 20 | 14 | 27 | 30 | 31 | 132 |
| 18 | Indianapolis-Carmel, IN | 1,715,459 | 31 | 34 | 3 | 27 | 32 | 2 | 6 | 135 |
| 19 | Pittsburgh, PA | 2,351,192 | 40 | 38 | 5 | 4 | 28 | 20 | 1 | 136 |
| 20 | Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN | 2,155,137 | 35 | 33 | 4 | 19 | 36 | 5 | 7 | 139 |
| 21 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 4,115,871 | 4 | 24 | 18 | 24 | 7 | 31 | 34 | 142 |
| 22 | Nashville-Davidson- Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN |
1,550,733 | 28 | 25 | 19 | 30 | 15 | 27 | 5 | 149 |
| 22 | Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI | 4,425,110 | 34 | 31 | 2 | 7 | 40 | 21 | 14 | 149 |
| 22 | Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI | 9,569,624 | 32 | 21 | 26 | 6 | 20 | 18 | 26 | 149 |
| 25 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 4,274,531 | 9 | 3 | 40 | 2 | 23 | 36 | 38 | 151 |
| 26 | Orlando-Kissimmee, FL | 2,054,574 | 9 | 29 | 13 | 39 | 6 | 37 | 19 | 152 |
| 27 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 3,344,813 | 39 | 6 | 37 | 1 | 8 | 33 | 33 | 157 |
| 27 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 1,819,198 | 9 | 2 | 39 | 3 | 24 | 40 | 40 | 157 |
| 29 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | 1,658,292 | 13 | 11 | 28 | 38 | 22 | 26 | 20 | 158 |
| 29 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL | 5,414,772 | 6 | 37 | 22 | 40 | 25 | 1 | 27 | 158 |
| 31 | Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH | 2,088,291 | 37 | 40 | 1 | 25 | 37 | 16 | 3 | 159 |
| 31 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA | 12,872,808 | 4 | 12 | 33 | 15 | 21 | 39 | 35 | 159 |
| 33 | Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA | 2,207,462 | 38 | 32 | 31 | 11 | 19 | 7 | 24 | 162 |
| 34 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 5,838,471 | 28 | 39 | 30 | 8 | 29 | 17 | 21 | 172 |
| 35 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 5,358,130 | 28 | 1 | 34 | 16 | 18 | 38 | 39 | 174 |
| 36 | Baltimore-Towson, MD | 2,667,117 | 26 | 13 | 32 | 18 | 31 | 32 | 28 | 180 |
| 37 | Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA | 1,596,611 | 22 | 36 | 29 | 13 | 35 | 29 | 17 | 181 |
| 38 | Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH | 4,522,858 | 22 | 19 | 35 | 12 | 33 | 35 | 36 | 192 |
| 39 | Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI | 1,549,308 | 32 | 23 | 25 | 37 | 38 | 28 | 11 | 194 |
| 40 | New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA | 19,006,798 | 22 | 20 | 38 | 31 | 39 | 24 | 32 | 206 |
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