This MS Coast town is named 1 of the best places to retire in the South by Southern Living

Mona Moore
·1 min read
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There’s no better place than Ocean Springs to purchase your forever home. According to a Southern Living list released last week, the Mississippi Coast city is one of the best places in the South to retire and home affordability played a large part in that ranking.

The 12 best retirement cities were chosen based on the magazine’s lists of the South’s best, a set of lists that rank everything from best small town to best vacation spot.

Data from Investopedia was also involved. The locations were compared to cities across the country. Criteria included housing affordability, average age of residents and access to amenities like restaurants, hospitals and airports.

Each of the top cities ranked high in at least one of the categories. Ocean Springs was named the best for home buying and was the only Mississippi city to make the list.

“There’s a large population of retirees here — and home listings pop up constantly to meet the demand with a better-than-average income-to-home-value ratio (34% compared to the overall national percentage of 28%),” said Carolanne Griffith Roberts of Southern Living Magazine. “Mississippi sweetens the pot with low taxes.”

Best places to retire

  • Best all-around: Chattanooga, Tennessee

  • Best for healthy living: Beaufort, North Carolina

  • Best for outdoor enthusiasts: Abingdon, Virginia

  • Best for home buying: Ocean Springs

  • Best mountain town: Blowing Rock, North Carolina

  • Best for food lovers: Greenville, South Carolina

  • Best beach town: St. Augustine, Florida

  • Best access to nature: Eureka Springs, Arkansas

  • Best for lifelong learning: Lexington, Kentucky

  • Best for arts and culture: Savannah, Georgia

  • Best for affordability: Huntsville, Alabama

  • Best for city lovers: Fort Worth, Texas