Planning for retirement should be a lifelong commitment that begins the moment you start earning enough to save some of it. Compound interest and capital gains investments yield more returns the longer they take to pay off, so the sooner you start, the better.

Life plans after age 65 may include finding a new place to call home. Ideally, such places provide important amenities such as easy access to physical activity, quality healthcare, and social opportunities. (Affordability is also important, Hawaii has the highest retirement benefits. )

Yavapai County ranks as the best place to retire in Arizona based on an index of 11 key indicators, including health status, concentration of healthcare providers, air quality, and physical activity and recreational venues. Yavapai County, the city of Prescott, has a population of 233,789, of whom 31.9% are of retirement age.

One of the reasons this county stands out from the rest of the state is the relative growth in its retirement age population in recent years. The number of people age 65 and older as a percentage of the total population increased by 3.0 percentage points across the county from 2017 to 2021, while the percentage of people of retirement age in the state’s population increased relatively modestly by 1.3 percentage points over the same period.

Click here for detailed instructions One of 11 metrics used to determine the best place to retire in each state. Only counties or county equivalents where the percentage of the population aged 65 and over was greater than 16% of the national percentage were considered.