10 Best Places to Retire in Michigan

Great Lakes lovers, buckle up because we are counting down 10 best places to retire in Michigan. If you are planning to fish and rest by the lake when your retirement days come, this is where you should be looking the place to do so.

The first word of advice is: think outside Detroit. Although this city is the most populous in the state, it is well past its glory days, and there is a long way to recovery ahead of it. We know that you’ll then miss out on the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings, and the Detroit Pistons, but you want your retirement to be peaceful. Now let’s immediately give you some great reasons to retire in Michigan.

The state of Michigan is bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, and you can add Lake Saint Clair to its roster. If recreational boating is your thing, then you don’t need to look further. According to some calculations, “a person in the state is never more than six miles (9.7 km) from a natural water source or more than 85 miles (137 km) from a Great Lakes shoreline.” If this doesn’t sound awesome, we don’t know what does. One slightly bad thing is that the weather is quite unpredictable.

To determine the best places to retire in Michigan, first, we tracked 20 places with a population bigger than 5,000 in Michigan, or in other words – most livable destinations, according to Area Vibes. Next, we examined each place for the cost of living, the number of physicians per capita (100,000), crime rates and residents aged 65 years and over. We found the data for these factors on Sperling’s Best Places and U.S. Census and then we created separate rankings for each place according to every criterion. After that, we were easily able to create our ultimate ranking of ideal places for retirees in Minnesota.

While you are at it, check out our list of 10 cheapest countries to live like a king as well.

10. Milford

Retirement Score: 37

Cost of Living: 10% more expensive than U.S. average

Physicians per Capita: 594

Crime Rates: 23,5

Residents Aged 65 and Over: 12,9%

If you seek a small, quiet and safe place in Michigan, Milford village should be among your top picks. Summers are usually warm and hot, but winters tend to be cold.

9. Berkeley

Retirement Score: 37

Cost of Living: 5% cheaper than U.S. average

Physicians per Capita: 594

Crime Rates: 28,2

Residents Aged 65 and Over: 11,3%

Berkeley is Detroit’s suburb, but without problems that Detroit has. Berkeley developed a nice reputation, being ranked” the No. 12 best place to live” by Coldwell Banker in 2012.

8. Woodhaven

Retirement Score: 39

Cost of Living: 9% cheaper than U.S. average

Physicians per Capita: 261

Crime Rates: 33,7

Residents Aged 65 and Over: 11,9%

Being close to major roads and highways, made Woodhaven flourish. Now the city offers great conditions for life, with nearby Allen and West Roads becoming a retail hub.

7. Farmington

Retirement Score: 39

Cost of Living: 6% cheaper than U.S. average

Physicians per Capita: 594

Crime Rates: 40

Residents Aged 65 and Over: 15,5%

Living in Farmington has one great advantage – almost everything in this town is new. The city government invested great effort in rebuilding the city, making it an appealing place to live.

6. Northville

Retirement Score: 40

Cost of Living: 23% more expensive than U.S. average

Physicians per Capita: 594

Crime Rates: 26,1

Residents Aged 65 and Over: 16,1%

There are a lot of events happening in Northville, especially Victorian age themed. If you like cities where something is happening all the time be sure to check out Northville.

5. Saline

Retirement Score: 40

Cost of Living: 6% more expensive than U.S. average

Physicians per Capita: 982

Crime Rates: 37,6

Residents Aged 65 and Over: 14,6%

A growing retirement place for many Americans, Saline, is quite popular for its annual Celtic Fest. CNN/Money’s even put Saline on his list of best places to retire in 2005.

4. Livonia

Retirement Score: 41

Cost of Living: 6% cheaper than U.S. average

Physicians per Capita: 261

Crime Rates: 41,4

Residents Aged 65 and Over: 17,7%

Even though the city is very close to Detroit, its bad charm didn’t rub off on this rather cheap retirement city. Livonia is a city with the biggest percentage of residents aged 65 and over on our list of 10 best places to retire in Michigan.

3. Grosse Pointe Farms

Retirement Score: 42

Cost of Living: 16% more expensive than U.S. average

Physicians per Capita: 261

Crime Rates: 29

Residents Aged 65 and Over: 17,5%

Grosse Pointe Farms is a mix of everything. Walking through the town, you can notice homes ranging from bungalows to mansions, ranch houses, and luxury homes. You just have to decide where you fit exactly. One pretty neat thing is that city borders with Canada, so you can run across the border if Trump becomes a president.

2. Grand Ledge

Retirement Score: 46

Cost of Living: 13% cheaper than U.S. average

Physicians per Capita: 98

Crime Rates: 33

Residents Aged 65 and Over: 14,1%

Grand Ledge is one of the favorite places for rock climbers, but we doubt you would want to spend your retirement days practicing outdoor activities. Or would you? Luckily for those who wouldn’t, there are a lot more appealing things in Grand Ledge, one of them is a ridiculously cheap cost of living.

1. Clawson

Retirement Score: 51

Cost of Living: 8% cheaper than U.S. average

Physicians per Capita: 594

Crime Rates: 27

Residents Aged 65 and Over: 14,8%

Taking all factors into consideration, Clawson presents an optimal place for retiring in Michigan. There is one interesting thing about the name of the top city on our list of 10 best places to retire in Michigan – the city was supposed to be named after one of its first settlers, John Lawson, but its name was misspelled.