10 Affordable Small Towns for Retirees in Tax-Friendly States

(Related: 12 Best States for Retirement: 2019)

Looking for a retirement haven that will offer a retreat from big-city living and preferably not eat up all your retirement savings? Well, 55places.com, which already looked at the most affordable potential retirement cities, went through its list again and chose 20 towns of 55,000 or less that also provide small-town charm. We're taking that one step further. We picked 10 out of the lot that are also located in states that Kiplinger.com has determined are the most tax-friendly to retirees. Among the considerations for towns to qualify for 55places.com's list are the overall cost of living, local home prices, state tax laws, local unemployment rates, the availability of affordable 55+ communities, local health care options, public transit, and more. Kiplinger's tax considerations included income, property and sales taxes, as well as retirement income and property tax exemptions, among other factors. Why not simply choose the top 10 states from 55places.com? Good question. Their evaluation of towns' affordability regarding taxes is based on GoBankingRates' rankings for most and least tax-friendly states for retirees. But Kiplinger disagrees—for instance, the number-one small town on the former list is Logan, Utah, but according to Kiplinger, Utah is one of the least tax-friendly states for retirees. So this is a slightly different take on both lists. Make of it what you will—and do remember that small towns have disadvantages, too.