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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
The difference between a comfortable retirement and a tight one often comes down to location. In Florida — known for no income tax, booming migration, and rising rents, we evaluated 22 cities on healthcare costs, tax burden, and cost of living. Jacksonville is the top pick for 2026.
#1 Ranked: Jacksonville — cost index 92, rent $1,576/mo, income $66,981
44-point cost gap between #1 and #22
Retiree-weighted scoring: healthcare index 98, no state income tax, cost index 92 — protecting fixed retirement income
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
The difference between a comfortable retirement and a tight one often comes down to location. In Florida — known for no income tax, booming migration, and rising rents, we evaluated 22 cities on healthcare costs, tax burden, and cost of living. Jacksonville is the top pick for 2026.
Dive into Jacksonville's numbers: cost index 92 — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — (19 points below national average), rent $1,576/month, income $66,981, and a home price of $282,367. The city's cost profile isn't flat — Housing is the cheapest category at 92, while Healthcare runs 98. As a major city with 985,843 residents, amenities and job markets are robust.
Retirement affordability is about protecting fixed income. Our model weights healthcare costs at 25 points (medical bills are the #1 financial risk in retirement), cost index at 25 points, and state tax burden at 15 points (taxes directly reduce pension and Social Security income). Jacksonville leads with low healthcare costs, no state income tax, and a cost index of 92. Tallahassee offers competitive healthcare and cost metrics. That's not nothing.
44-point cost gap between #1 and #22. Jacksonville (index 92) and Davie (index 136) sit 44 points apart on the cost index — proof that Florida is far from monolithic in affordability. That's about what we'd expect given the state context.
For all that, there's a counter-signal worth noting: Across Florida, the average cost of living index is 127 — 16 points above the national median. Known for no income tax, booming migration, and rising rents, the state offers 22 tracked cities with median rents averaging $2,171/month — we had to double-check this one — . That's $276 more than the national average of $1,895. For anyone relocating from a high-cost market, this will feel like a raise (not adjusted for inflation, but still telling).
If you're ready to act on this, three things to do next: 1) Click into the city pages for the top 3 and check rent trends — direction matters more than the snapshot. 2) Run your income through the salary calculator for a personalized cost comparison. 3) Compare your top two picks head-to-head on our comparison page. The data is here; the decision is yours.
| Rank | City | Cost Index | Median Rent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacksonville | 92 | $1,576 | Details |
| 2 | Tallahassee | 87 | $1,484 | Details |
| 3 | Gainesville | 94 | $1,604 | Details |
| 4 | Tampa | 115 | $1,968 | Details |
| 5 | Orlando | 108 | $1,857 | Details |
| 6 | St Petersburg | 120 | $2,048 | Details |
| 7 | Cape Coral | 111 | $1,898 | Details |
| 8 | Palm Bay | 109 | $1,866 | Details |
| 9 | Lakeland | 98 | $1,678 | Details |
| 10 | Clearwater | 111 | $1,904 | Details |
| 11 | Miami | 173 | $2,964 | Details |
| 12 | Port St Lucie | 137 | $2,350 | Details |
| 13 | Hialeah | 142 | $2,437 | Details |
| 14 | Fort Lauderdale | 159 | $2,718 | Details |
| 15 | Pembroke Pines | 151 | $2,582 | Details |
| 16 | Hollywood | 131 | $2,237 | Details |
| 17 | Miramar | 150 | $2,565 | Details |
| 18 | Coral Springs | 138 | $2,373 | Details |
| 19 | West Palm Beach | 132 | $2,256 | Details |
| 20 | Pompano Beach | 134 | $2,302 | Details |
| 21 | Miami Gardens | 161 | $2,756 | Details |
| 22 | Davie | 136 | $2,330 | Details |
985,843 residents · Florida
Jacksonville is one of the cheaper options here. Rent is $1,576/month, which is lower than most cities in this ranking. The cost index is 92. Income sits at $66,981. Fairly typical for a city this size (more on that below).
202,221 residents · Florida
Tallahassee is one of the cheaper options here. Rent is $1,484/month — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — , which is lower than most cities in this ranking. The cost index is 87. Income sits at $55,931. That's more or less in line with the region (that's pre-tax, of course).
145,812 residents · Florida
Here's Gainesville by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 94. Rent: $1,604/month. Income: $45,611/year. Home price: $293,024. Population: 145,812. The strongest category is Housing at 94; the most expensive is Healthcare at 99. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $3,492 per year vs. the national median. That's not something you see often in the data (that's pre-tax, of course).
403,364 residents · Florida
Here's Tampa by the numbers — and there's a lot to like. Cost index: 115. Rent: $1,968/month — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — . Take it or leave it — the data is what it is. Income: $71,302/year. Home price: $369,079. Population: 403,364. The strongest category is Healthcare at 103; the most expensive is Housing at 115. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are costing renters $876 more per year vs. the national median. On a fixed income, this is the metric that matters most.
320,742 residents · Florida
A closer look at Orlando: the cost index of 108 breaks down to a Healthcare index of 102 (strongest category) and a Housing index of 108 (weakest). Median rent is $1,857/month — 2% below the national median — while household income sits at $69,268, meaning locals spend about 32% of income on rent. That exceeds the recommended 30% threshold — affordability here depends on earning above the median.
Our persona scoring model weights cost, income, rent, healthcare, taxes, and city size based on what matters most to retirees. Each factor scores 10-25 points out of a 100-point composite. The guide ranks every tracked city in Florida by this personalized metric. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
Jacksonville ranks #1 in Florida for this analysis with a cost index of 92 and median income of $66,981.
Jacksonville scores highest for retirees due to its below-average cost of living, median rent of $1,576/mo, and competitive median income of $66,981.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
Jacksonville (ranked #1) has a cost index of 92 and rent of $1,576/mo, while Davie (ranked #22) has a cost index of 136 and rent of $2,330/mo — a 44-point difference in cost of living.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Jacksonville is $1,576/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $319 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Jacksonville is $282,367, which is 4.2× the local median income. It's on the edge of affordability for median-income households. The national median home price is $467,370.
Florida has a 0% state income tax rate — one of the states with no income tax. Combined state and local sales tax averages 7.05%, and the effective property tax rate is 0.8%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.