According to a North Carolina based real-estate company, Movoto, they have compiled a ranking of the top ten places to retire in North Carolina. They only chose cities with a population of 10,000 or more and than ranked each of the cities/towns according to five criteria: Cost of Living, Total Crime, Total Amenities, Weather, and Distance from nearest international airport.
Unfortunately for most cities, their proximity to either Raleigh or Charlotte caused their high cost of living to lower their overall ranking. Here are the top ranked cities in each of the five categories:
- Cost of Living – Eden
- Crime – Pinehurst
- Travel to Airport – Morrisville
- Amenities – Belmont
- Weather – Leland, Goldsboro, Wilmington
Those are the highest in each of the five categories, now here are the top ten ranked in the state:
- Morrisville
- Mount Holly
- Apex
- Holly Springs
- Kings Mountain
- Mint Hill
- Stallings
- Harrisburg
- Sanford
- Matthews
Having visited each of these towns and living in one of them, I can say they each have their own advantages and disadvantages. It is interesting to see that none of the top ten are located around the Coastal, Triad or Mountain region of the state. The top ten are mostly focused in and around Wake (Raleigh) and Mecklenburg (Charlotte) counties. Assuming one reason for these two areas’ large populations and continued growth.
