When most people think of calling it quits on a career, they immediately think of a move to Florida.
But not not everyone wants to spend their golden years in Florida; some of us want to stay close to friends and family and within the great state of Georgia.
Where exactly in Georgia is the best place to retire? Well, there’s only one place to go for the answer — data — which returns Decatur as the best place to hang up your cleats.
To that end, we have tried to identify the places in Georgia that are safe, affordable, and have plenty of things to keep you busy well into retirement.
What did we find after pouring through all the data? Let’s just say we hope folks in Decatur don’t mind us spreading the word.
Here are our top ten places in the Peach State to retire for 2019:
Best Places To Retire In Georgia for 2019
- Decatur (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Marietta (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Fayetteville (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Lawrenceville (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Jesup (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Bainbridge (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Thomasville (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Waycross (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Newnan (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Powder Springs (Photos | Homes For Sale)
Why did Decatur take the top spot? And where are Atlanta and Columbus?
Read on to see see all the golden parachute level details or check out the best places to retire in America.
For Georgia state reading:
- 10 Best Places To Live In Georgia
- 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Georgia
- 10 Best Places To Raise A Family In Georgia
How We Determined The Best Places To Retire In the Peach State for 2019
To create our list of the best places in Georgia to retire, we first used Census data to find all places in the Peach State — 620 cities and towns.
We then narrowed it down to places with at least 10,000 people that weren’t townships. This left us with 71 places from across the state.
For these 71, we looked at the following criteria taken from the Census, the FBI’s Crime Report, National Weather Service, and OpenFlights:
- Low cost of living as measured by rent
- Low crime
- Things to do (Museums, Colleges, and Libraries in town)
- Nice weather
- Distance to the closest international airport
- Other retirees (High median age)
We then ranked each of these places for each criteria from one to 71, with the lowest number being the best.
Finally, we took the average rank across these criteria. The place, in this case Decatur, with the lowest average rank was crowned the best of the best, a place for you to start your second careers.
/10
Population: 21,210
Rank Last Year: 119 (Up 118)
Median Rent: $894
Distance to Closest Airport: 11 miles
More on Decatur: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Decatur is a city in, and the county seat of, DeKalb County, Georgia, United States and is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 20,148 in the 2013 census, the municipality is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple zip codes in unincorporated DeKalb County bear the Decatur name. The city is served by three MARTA rail stations. The city is located approximately 5 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta and shares its western border with Atlanta.
/10
Population: 59,714
Rank Last Year: 80 (Up 78)
Median Rent: $936
Distance to Closest Airport: 22 miles
More on Marietta: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Marietta is located in central Cobb County, Georgia, United States, and is the county’s seat and largest city.
/10
Population: 16,780
Rank Last Year: 106 (Up 103)
Median Rent: $1,064
Distance to Closest Airport: 13 miles
More on Fayetteville: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Fayetteville is a city in Fayette County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 15,945, up from 11,148 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Fayette County. Fayetteville is located 22 miles south of downtown Atlanta.
/10
Population: 30,127
Rank Last Year: 62 (Up 59)
Median Rent: $896
Distance to Closest Airport: 33 miles
More on Lawrenceville: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Lawrenceville is a city in and the county seat of Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. It is a suburb of Atlanta, located approximately 30 miles northeast of downtown. As of the 2010 census, the population of Lawrenceville was 28,546. In 2015, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city population to be 30,493. Lawrenceville has six ZIP codes, and it is part of the 678404 telephone area code, which is used throughout metropolitan Atlanta.
/10
Population: 10,145
Rank Last Year: 35 (Up 30)
Median Rent: $560
Distance to Closest Airport: 54 miles
More on Jesup: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Jesup is a city in Wayne County, Georgia, United States. The population was 10,214 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Wayne County.
/10
Population: 12,492
Rank Last Year: 41 (Up 35)
Median Rent: $593
Distance to Closest Airport: 81 miles
More on Bainbridge: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Bainbridge is a city in Decatur County, Georgia, United States. The city is the county seat of Decatur County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 12,697.
/10
Population: 18,706
Rank Last Year: 60 (Up 54)
Median Rent: $731
Distance to Closest Airport: 110 miles
More on Thomasville: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Thomasville is the county seat of Thomas County, Georgia, United States. The city is the second largest in Southwest Georgia after Albany.
/10
Population: 14,188
Rank Last Year: 23 (Up 15)
Median Rent: $610
Distance to Closest Airport: 63 miles
More on Waycross: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Waycross is the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Ware County. in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 14,725 at the 2010 Census.
/10
Population: 35,642
Rank Last Year: 87 (Up 78)
Median Rent: $940
Distance to Closest Airport: 26 miles
More on Newnan: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Newnan is a city in Metro Atlanta and the county seat of Coweta County, Georgia, approximately 40 miles southwest of Atlanta. The population was 33,039 at the 2010 census, up from 16,242 in 2000, for a growth rate of 153.1% over that decade.
/10
Population: 14,596
Rank Last Year: 75 (Up 65)
Median Rent: $1,081
Distance to Closest Airport: 21 miles
More on Powder Springs: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Powder Springs is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 13,940 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population for 2015 of 14,826.
Maybe You’re Not Ready To Retire In Georgia Yet…
So there you have it, the best place to retire in Georgia goes to Decatur.
If you’re not ready to hang up your office apparel yet, then these places might be up your alley:
- Monroe
- Hinesville
- Cordele
For more Georgia reading, check out:
- 30 Things To Know About Moving To Georgia
- These Are The 10 Richest Cities In Georgia
- 10 Safest Places In Georgia
Detailed List Of The Best Places To Retire In Georgia
Rank | City | Population |
---|---|---|
1 | Decatur | 21,210 |
2 | Marietta | 59,714 |
3 | Fayetteville | 16,780 |
4 | Lawrenceville | 30,127 |
5 | Jesup | 10,145 |
6 | Bainbridge | 12,492 |
7 | Thomasville | 18,706 |
8 | Waycross | 14,188 |
9 | Newnan | 35,642 |
10 | Powder Springs | 14,596 |
11 | Rome | 36,340 |
12 | Brunswick | 15,997 |
13 | Pooler | 22,131 |
14 | Roswell | 93,968 |
15 | Vidalia | 10,674 |
16 | Smyrna | 54,788 |
17 | Canton | 25,022 |
18 | Kennesaw | 32,669 |
19 | Johns Creek | 82,930 |
20 | Lilburn | 12,481 |
21 | Sandy Springs | 102,212 |
22 | Conyers | 15,682 |
23 | Duluth | 28,681 |
24 | Covington | 13,667 |
25 | Griffin | 22,875 |
26 | Milton | 36,755 |
27 | Alpharetta | 63,013 |
28 | Clarkston | 12,594 |
29 | Atlanta | 456,378 |
30 | Dallas | 12,622 |
31 | Carrollton | 25,960 |
32 | Kingsland | 16,411 |
33 | Dalton | 33,653 |
34 | Riverdale | 15,812 |
35 | Loganville | 11,072 |
36 | Mcdonough | 23,086 |
37 | Snellville | 19,395 |
38 | Acworth | 21,824 |
39 | East Point | 35,477 |
40 | Gainesville | 37,906 |
41 | Statesboro | 30,597 |
42 | Winder | 15,148 |
43 | Brookhaven | 51,567 |
44 | Milledgeville | 19,146 |
45 | Richmond Hill | 11,501 |
46 | Forest Park | 19,156 |
47 | Dublin | 16,189 |
48 | Dunwoody | 48,128 |
49 | Moultrie | 14,457 |
50 | Calhoun | 16,139 |
51 | Columbus | 200,303 |
52 | College Park | 14,434 |
53 | Woodstock | 27,964 |
54 | Villa Rica | 14,755 |
55 | Albany | 75,657 |
56 | Tifton | 16,691 |
57 | Norcross | 16,293 |
58 | Suwanee | 18,001 |
59 | Holly Springs | 10,351 |
60 | Douglasville | 32,317 |
61 | Fairburn | 13,860 |
62 | Lagrange | 30,535 |
63 | Americus | 16,185 |
64 | Chamblee | 27,862 |
65 | Valdosta | 56,717 |
66 | Warner Robins | 73,265 |
67 | Grovetown | 12,848 |
68 | Doraville | 10,348 |
69 | Cordele | 11,015 |
70 | Hinesville | 34,127 |
71 | Monroe | 13,253 |