Naperville named top U.S. city for early retirees

Naperville can add “No. 1 place in the country to retire early” to its list of national “best city” accolades.

The city has been named the kid-friendliest place in the country in the past and earned the title of country’s best library system several years in a row. Now Kiplinger magazine has named Naperville the best city in which to retire early.

The magazine’s rankings, compiled by data aggregator FindTheBest identified “economically healthy cities where early retirees should be able to work (if they choose) and prosper during their second acts.”

Naperville bested nine others on the list, which included Cary, N.C.; Alexandria, Va.; Sandy Springs, Ga.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Bellevue, Wash.; Peoria, Ariz.; Midland, Texas; Virginia Beach, Va.; and Honolulu, Hawaii.

“We’re thrilled to come up as the No. 1 community for early retirement in the Kiplinger’s article,” Naperville City Manager Doug Krieger said. “We’ve got a great community and sometimes take for granted the safety of our town and the public amenities.”

Rankings were determined based on crime rate, cost of living, the state’s tax picture and the percentage of the city’s population between 45 and 64 years old.

FindTheBest determined the city’s percentage of residents between ages 45 and 64 was the highest of all 10 cities on the list at 28 percent, and Naperville had the second-lowest crime rate among listed communities at 1.66 crimes for every 100 residents.

Kiplinger also recognized Naperville’s access to Chicago by the Metra Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail line, its downtown full of shops and restaurants and the 1.75-mile Riverwalk.

“From our perspective, it’s great,” Naperville Riverwalk Commission Chairman Jeff Havel said about the early retiree-friendly recognition.

“You see people of all ages out there” on the Riverwalk, Havel said. “We’re always looking at making it more accessible for people, too. It’s not only people with disabilities, but people that might have trouble walking as they get older.”

Kiplinger rated Illinois’ retiree tax picture as mixed and cautioned people to budget for the combined 7.25 percent sales tax rate in the city. But the magazine said all 10 cities on the list are places where people can stretch their nest eggs and make the dream of early retirement a reality.