Bring A Coat: Minneapolis near top of a new list of "best places to retire"

A new report from the website WalletHub puts the City of Minneapolis near the top of the list of cities around the country in which to retire. Yes, cold, snowy, Minnesota.

The study compares the retiree-friendliness of more than 180 cities across 45 key metrics.

Minneapolis ranks in the top 10 for healthcare and activities for seniors, along with a robust job market for those over 65. More and more, those that have retired are finding jobs to either stay busy or supplement income Minneapolis scored high there. About one-quarter of U.S. adults age 50 and older who are not yet retired say they expect to never retire and 70% are concerned about prices rising faster than their income, an AARP survey finds.

"To help Americans plan an affordable retirement while maintaining the best quality of life, WalletHub compared the retiree-friendliness of more than 180 U.S. cities across 45 key metrics," the site explained. "Our data set ranges from the cost of living and tax laws to the availability of activities and the quality of health care."

WalletHub described Minneapolis as "one of the most elderly-friendly labor markets in the country, meaning that it has a large percentage of jobs that are easy to perform even for elderly residents," saying there are plenty of opportunities to do that in Minneapolis, since over 22% of the working population is over age 65.

The city also ranked as the 29th-most caring city in the U.S. It has the 6th-best hospital system, too, along with a high number of nursing homes and gerontologists per capita. Retirees also have good mental health, as Minneapolis has the third-lowest suicide rate for people ages 65 and older.

Minneapolis is the only city in the top five outside of Florida. No shock that longtime retiree-haven Orlando is ranked number one. Miami comes in second, with Tampa and Fort Lauderdale ranking fourth and fifth, sandwiching Minneapolis with the sunshine state.

Minneapolis' neighbor to the east, St. Paul, did fairly well. Minnesota's Capitol comes in 31 on the list of 180.

At the bottom of the list are big cities like Wichita (174), Detroit (177) and Newark (178). But the bottom four belong to California: Bakersfield, Rancho Cucamonga, Stockton and San Bernardino are the worst places for retirees according to WalletHub.