, Fla. — The Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford metro area ranked 10th among Florida metros in a new study examining retirement conditions across the country.
The study, conducted by home care agency 24 Hour Caregivers, compared U.S. metro areas using eight factors, including cost of living, air quality, walkability, access to primary-care physicians, hospital quality, food access, violent crime and access to exercise opportunities.
Orlando received an overall score of 52.61, placing it 10th in Florida and 151st nationally.
How Orlando scored
The study estimated Orlando’s annual household cost at $79,649.
The metro received a walkability score of 9.65 and had 77.57 primary-care physicians per 100,000 residents.
Researchers also reported an average hospital rating of 3.07 stars, a food access score of 7.85 and access to exercise opportunities for 87.97% of residents.
The study listed Orlando’s violent crime rate at 429.9 incidents per 100,000 residents.
Gainesville tops Florida
Gainesville ranked first among Florida metros and 39th nationally with a score of 63.28.
Researchers cited Gainesville’s access to primary-care physicians and hospital ratings among its strengths. The metro also had the lowest estimated annual household cost among Florida’s top 10 at $75,969.
North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota ranked second in Florida, followed by Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater and Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor.
Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach ranked sixth in Florida, while Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville ranked seventh.
How the ranking was calculated
Researchers examined 387 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas, but ranked only the 292 metros that had complete data for all eight factors.
Each factor was weighted equally. Researchers said the data came from sources including the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Environmental Protection Agency, County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and FBI crime data.
The study’s rankings reflect the methodology selected by 24 Hour Caregivers and should not be interpreted as a definitive measure of the best place for every retiree.
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