We Want Year-Round Sun After Retirement. What Mid-Sized City Is Best?

Moving to a sunnier climate is a dream for many retirees, especially for those who have spent years dealing with cold, snowy winters in the northern hemisphere. As you get older, the appeal of shoveling snow fades quickly. Even people who live in places with mild winters often crave regions that offer steady sunshine throughout the year, since bright days can do wonders for warding off the winter blues.

This idea recently surfaced in a post on the r/retirementtips subreddit. A woman explained that she and her husband were preparing to retire and wanted to relocate somewhere in the western half of the United States. Their wish list included plenty of sunshine, abundant trees, affordability, and access to quality healthcare. One important caveat: they wanted to avoid desert climates.

Since they only knew the areas north of Denver and Sacramento, they were seeking recommendations for other sunny, livable regions that might fit their needs.

Thoughtful, but not helpful

Although Reddit often has a reputation for feeling like the wild west of the internet, many of its individual communities are surprisingly helpful and thoughtful. In this case, users offered a wide range of suggestions. Several recommended smaller cities in Southern California, such as Fallbrook, Torrance, and Lomita. However, these areas did not seem to fit the Redditor’s affordability requirement. Southern California is generally more expensive than Northern California, and California as a whole has some of the steepest living costs in the country.

According to RentCafe, the cost of living in California is about 38 percent higher than the national average, with housing prices nearly double the U.S. norm. That makes affordability a serious challenge for anyone retiring on a budget.

Other commenters recommended places on the East Coast or in the Southeast, including Florida. While those locations offer sunshine, greenery, and many of the qualities the Redditor wanted, they fall outside the western region she specified.

Taking her preferences into account, here are some recommendations that better match her criteria.

Flagstaff, Arizona

Arizona has the distinction of being the only state to touch all four deserts in the U.S.: the Sonoran, the Mohave, Chihuahuan, and Great Basin. While you might not want to live in Phoenix because of its desert-like environment, Flagstaff might be more amenable because it also has mountains, plains, and forests (it is one of the greenest cities in Arizona) with four different seasons. Its elevation also gives it a cooler, more temperate climate with significant snow in winter, but plenty of sun year-round. The cost of living in Arizona is only 6% higher than the national average, making it still an affordable place to move.

Bend, Oregon

Oregon is a higher cost-of-living state with expenses 10% higher than the national average, but Bend, OR is relatively more affordable than coastal cities like Portland, with a median home price that’s reasonable for those looking to retire. The city also enjoys around 300 days of sunshine annually, with a climate that includes mild winters and warm summers, but not as hot as desert areas. With the Deschutes National Forest nearby, Bend has an abundance of trees and nature, offering numerous outdoor activities from hiking to skiing.

Eugene, OR, might fill the bill, too. Its nickname is the Emerald City due to its green landscapes, and it might be perfect for those who love trees, considering the city’s proximity to the Willamette National Forest.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe might seem a surprising choice since New Mexico has a desert image due to the Chihuahuan Desert, the largest desert in North America. However, Santa Fe sports a high-desert climate, but with trees and a distinct, non-desert landscape. It is also sunny year-round with mild winters and has many affordable housing options compared to many nearby cities. The cost of living in New Mexico is also 5% lower than the national average.

Key takeaways

The choice of where to live is a really personal decision, no matter how many flattering suggestions you get from others about cities you may want to move to. Only you can decide what best meets your needs.

There are also tools you can use on real estate websites such as Realtor.com and Zillow. Using their map features, you can add filters for many of the criteria you seek to zero in on a region you just might end up calling home.