Maine’s Two Largest Cities Fail to Make the Grade in Latest Retirement Report

It was less than ideal results for Maine's two most populous cities in a recent report on best metros to retire in.

Wallethub.com, a personal finance website, recently published a report of the best cities to retire in. Both Portland and Lewiston were included.

Portland came in at just 79th, a significant drop from the 49th ranking from a year ago. Meanwhile, Lewiston was just 127th on the list of 182 cities and towns from across the country. Wallethub's survey included America's 150 largest cities, plus at least two of the largest cities in each state.

Portland's actual score given was 48.52, while Lewiston scored a 44.91. The scoring is on a 100-point system and based on four major categories: Affordability, Activities, Healthcare, and Quality of Life. These categories were broken down to 45 subcategories to make it as detailed as possible. You can read more about the methodology here.

Portland did relatively well in one category: Activities. The city finished with a 24 ranking. Quality of Life was also a top 50 ranking, with a 47. The city struggled with healthcare, with an 85th ranking.

But where Portland was truly hammered was affordability. Maine's largest city had one of the lowest rankings at a 159. This isn't surprising, considering everyone who already lives in and around Portland knows how ridiculously expensive it is.

While Lewiston did better in the affordability category (105th), The Lew only managed a 98 ranking in quality of life, and 93rd in healthcare.

However, its undoing was the activities category, which saw Lewiston score a 142. I do find it a little harsh. I think it's difficult for any small city to go against more populous areas when it comes to some of these categories, though WalletHub does measure by "per capita" standards to try and keep it as fair as possible.

According to WalletHub, the number one city to retire in is Tampa, FL. The cigar city scored a 59.93. It just beat out Scottsdale, Arizona, for the top spot. The rest of the top 5 includes the Florida cities of Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Miami.

Dead last on the survey is Stockton, California. That town just sounds boring.

You can see the full list here.