Wichita named one of the most affordable places to retire by GoBankingRates. See why

Planning on moving outside of Wichita when you retire? You may want to reconsider.

That’s because one ranking by GoBankingRates named Wichita as the seventh most affordable U.S. city to retire out of the 100 biggest U.S. cities with more than a 10% senior population. The personal finance came up with the ranking by looking at the retirement income needed to cover living costs in that city.

“Due to inexpensive homes and relatively low grocery, and transportation costs, Wichita makes the cut for one of the best cities to retire rich,” the GoBankingRates ranking said.

With reported housing costs sitting 44.9% lower than the national average, as well as a livability score of 60, Wichita ranks just below Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and just above El Paso, Texas.

Toledo, Ohio, won the top spot, with a reported $37,646 of total annual expenditures as well as a livability score of 62.

In comparison, GoBankingRates reports the annual total expenditures in Wichita to be $42,547.

This isn’t the first time Wichita has made the cut for an affordability ranking. The city also made the cut for WalletHub’s most affordable places to live in July 2024, which looked at the city’s median home income, median home price and monthly rent.

GoBankingRates’ most affordable U.S. cities to retire

Here are the 10 most affordable places to retire, from GoBankingRates:

1. Toledo, Ohio
2. Cleveland
3. Memphis, Tennessee
4. Fort Wayne, Indiana
5. Lubbock, Texas
6. Winston-Salem, North Carolina
7. Wichita
8. El Paso, Texas
9. Tulsa, Oklahoma
10. Greensboro, North Carolina

Lindsay Smith

The Wichita Eagle

Lindsay Smith is a suburban news reporter for the Wichita Eagle, covering the communities of Andover, Bel Aire, Derby, Haysville and Kechi. She has been on The Eagle staff since 2022 and was the service journalism reporter for three years. She has a degree in communications with an emphasis in journalism from Wichita State, where she was editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Sunflower, for two years. You can reach her via email at lsmith@wichitaeagle.com.