Wealthy retirees hoping to live comfortably can enjoy life in Oro Valley, Arizona, the safest and wealthiest retirement town in America.
This is evident from GOBankingRates, which recently gave the city this status study.
Experts made this finding by identifying every U.S. city where at least 25 percent of the population is 65 or older.
They took each city and took into account several categories, including the average retirement income and the percentage of households with a retirement income.
Experts also took into account rates of violence and property crime per 1,000 residents, analyzing average home values as of September 2024.
In addition to Oro Valley, these other Arizona cities also made the list: Prescott, Prescott Valley, Lake Havasu City, Scottsdale, Apache Junction and Bullhead City.
Oro Valley, Arizona, was incorporated on April 15, 1974, according to the city website.
There were originally 1,200 inhabitants and government meetings were once held in a rented two-room apartment.
GOBankingRates experts named Arizona’s Oro Valley America’s safest and richest retirement town
Over the next decade, the city began opening schools, creating a fire district and approving exchanges to protect Catalina State Park.
The city has grown into a relaxed living environment and will be a home for people from 2023 almost 50,000 inhabitants.
GOBankingRates found that the Arizona city has a violent crime rate per 1,000 residents of 0.57.
While its property crime score of 11.41 is higher than some of the top-rated U.S. cities, it’s not the worst.
Oro Valley residents who are at least 65 years old have a median retirement income of $52,098 and a median home value of $525,380 for single-family homes.
The study concluded that the livability score is 81.
GOBankingRates found that Oro Valley, Arizona, has a 0.57 violent crime rate per 1,000 residents
“For example, when we first moved here, a lot of our four-lane highways were just two-lanes,” said 28-year-old Oro Valley resident and Mayor Joe Winfield. KGUN 9.
“Where there were stop signs, there are now signalized intersections. We have witnessed the construction of schools and churches.”
Winfield added that he is focused on continuing to improve the city and has identified efforts as part of four pillars of government: “Public Safety, Public Works, Parks and Recreation and Land Use.”
“It is not for us to define the vision, but to gather input from the community and work to make it a reality,” he said.
In addition to low crime rates and stable living conditions, Oro Valley has a warm climate, lifestyle and retirement communities, and is close to Tucson, Arizona.
These additional factors may be reasons why the Oro Valley housing market has become competitive.
The typical home value for any type of property in Oro Valley, Arizona, is $508,151, according to Zillow.
This value is 1.8 percent higher than last year’s home value, and 11.9 percent of home sales in Oro Valley were above list price.
The typical home value for any type of property in Oro Valley, Arizona is $508,151
Oro Valley, Arizona, has several golf courses near the city’s suburbs
Another safe and prosperous area that retirees can enjoy is Pinehurst, North Carolina.
The violent and property crime rates per 1,000 came in at 0.43 and 3.40, and the average retirement income for someone age 65 or older is $50,351.
Bella Vista, Arkansas, has a median retirement income of $32,209, and the median home value of a single-family home is $336,590.
One thing GOBankingRates discovered was that twelve of the safest and wealthiest retirement cities are in California.
These California cities are Rancho Palos Verdes, La Quinta and Palm Springs.
Other areas with safe and rich environments include Georgetown, Texas, Centerville, Ohio, and Mesquite, Nevada.
AreaVibes was the source GOBankingRates used to determine livability scores, while single-family home values came from the Zillow Home Value Index.
Other sources for the data included the US Census American Community Survey, Sperling’s BestPlaces and the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Expenditure Survey.