WalletHub has released a massive list of the best places to retire in the United States. They looked at 182 cities and analyzed them on 45 key metrics, including affordability, specifically for the budgets of older adults, quality of life, and the healthcare rankings of local hospitals, clinics, etc.
However, multiple research studies have found that LGBTQ older adults can be more vulnerable to discrimination because they don’t have the resources and/or social network to fight it, especially if they are in assisted living.
So we wanted to know: are these “top” cities queer friendly?
We compared WalletHub’s list to the Equality Map created by the Movement Advancement Project. MAP analyzes each state based on their laws governing their queer residents. They rank states based on their overall policy scores, assigning them one of the following values: High, Medium, Fair, Low, and Negative. A High policy score is best for LGBTQ residents.
According to WalletHub, the top three cities to retire in are Orlando, Miami, and Tampa, in that order.
But MAP found that Florida has one of the worst Equality scores in the country. They labeled the state as Negative.
Scottsdale, Arizona was fourth on WalletHub’s list. MAP gave Arizona a Low policy score.
Number five was Casper, Wyoming. That state also earned a Negative policy score from MAP.
Atlanta was sixth and Georgia has a Negative policy score.
Eighth and Ninth were Fort Lauderdale and Charleston. South Carolina also has a Negative policy score.
The Top Cities In LGBTQ Friendly States
Seventh on the list was Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. The North Star State has a High overall policy score.
Pittsburgh came in tenth, with Pennsylvania receiving a Fair policy score from MAP.
Madison, Wisconsin came in eleventh and Wisconsin also has a Fair policy score. Madison, however, is the most liberal city in Wisconsin and it has multiple LGBTQ legislators.
Notably, WalletHub didn’t list a single city from Illinois, Washington, Oregon, Vermont, Connecticut, or Massachusetts. All states with High policy scores from MAP. The only city from California was San Francisco. An interesting choice given that housing prices in the city are famous for how expensive they are.
