If you’re planning on spending your retirement days in the Midwest and Great Lakes region, this list of 11 best places to retire in Wisconsin might come in handy. To begin with, there are certainly better places one could choose for his retirement days. Badger State tends to be rather cold during the winter, plus it’s one of the more expensive states in the country. According to Career Trends, Wisconsin is 10% more expensive than the national average would suggest. If you take a deeper look at this report, however, you’ll notice that childcare is by far the most expensive category here, and that’s something prospective retirees don’t have to deal with. On the other hand, housing index shows a different trend. It’s actually 9% lower than the national average which means Wisconsin doesn’t have to be that expensive after all. It all depends on finding the right place, and that’s what this article is here for. If you’re thinking of moving abroad instead, you can also take a look at this list of 10 cheapest countries to live like a king. That should come in handy by giving you the insight into cheaper options with more pleasant climate. This also means that the bridges of Madison County will forever remain out of reach. I can see the sentimental value that simply can’t be calculated here, but it’s something one should strongly consider nevertheless.
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In order to pinpoint 11 best places to retire in Wisconsin, we have resorted to SmartAsset’s, Best Place to Retire’s and Social Daily Post’s lists with similar topics. They only served as guidelines for choosing the cities, towns and neighborhoods which we’re about to analyze. Needless to say, we have analyzed all that have appeared on these three lists. Actually analyzing every single village, town, neighborhood and city in Wisconsin would have been a tedious work. That’s the reason we have resorted to this method.
Our next step was to determine the methodology. Our methodology consists of trio of criteria which have equal impact on the final standings. First of these is the cost of living which we have gathered from Sperling’s Best Places and AreaVibes. Actually, we have used housing, healthcare and grocery indexes from these two sources, and calculated the average for every single one of them. That’s three categories already. By comparing two sources, we were able to eliminate potential unrealistic indexes because more than one source always offers us some security. Secondly, we have calculated the median housing price expressed in $ per square foot thanks to Realtor. Finally, we have pulled the numbers for physicians per 1,000 inhabitants. That number accounts all types of physicians, and was obtained from Find the Company’s database. In the end, we have assigned points from 1 to 10 to every single one of these five categories and places with most points have made their way to our list 11 best places to retire in Wisconsin.
11. Rice Lake
Total points: 36
Rice Lake is a small town in Baron County, in northwestern Wisconsin with the population of just above 8,000. According to both Sperling’s Best Places and AreaVibes, median housing index of Rice Lake amounts to 70 which means that the town is 30% more affordable than the national average in this category. Furthermore, square foot costs $61 on average. The health index average comes to 108.5, but that’s pretty much the average for the Badger State. Grocery index of 102.75 is Rice Lake’s weakest link since the town features no less than 3.21 physicians per 1,000 inhabitants.
10. Chippewa Falls
Total points: 36
Chippewa Falls is a town in the eponymous county, located on the shore of the eponymous lake. Need I say that Chippewa River (another eponymous) flows through the town as well?! Thanks to these natural wonders, Chippewa Falls is one of the best places to retire in the entire state. Housing index of 68.5 only confirms the previous statement, and so does average price per square foot of $50. Healthcare average amounts to 109.5, while grocery index comes to 101.65. Finally, Chippewa Falls have 1.83 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants which is their lowest scoring category here.
9. Wisconsin Rapids
Total points: 37
Located in the heart of the Badger State, Wisconsin Rapids is a city of some 18,000 people. Moreover, Wisconsin Rapids is a county seat of Wood County. Being far from the Great Lakes, Wisconsin Rapids have some of the lowest housing prices in the state. Housing index of 54.5 is the fourth lowest on this list, and a median price per square foot of $48 is among lowest as well. Healthcare index is lowest too (106), although it’s a tie, while groceries index amounts to 97.6. The Wisconsin Rapids’ weakest link are doctors per 1,000 inhabitants. There’s only 1.53 of them which is the third lowest amount on this list.
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8. Monroe
Total points: 39
Monroe is a small, 11,000 inhabitants town close to the border with Illinois, straight due south of Madison. County seat of Green County has a rather low housing index according to Sperling’s and AreaVibes. It’s only 68, and the average price per square foot of $45 is among lowest figures on the list as well. Healthcare index is about average for Wisconsin, coming to 108, and so is grocery index which amounts to 97.25. Although all five criteria are pretty much equal, a number of physicians per 1,000 inhabitants in Monroe is the weakest category with still solid 2.86 doctors.
7. Ashland
Total points: 39
Ashland is a small town on the southwestern shore of Lake Superior. It spans over both Ashland and Bayfield counties and has around 8,000 inhabitants. Ashland has the average housing index of 63, health index of 109, and grocery index of 101.65. Apart from around 40% lower housing index than the national average, Ashland features average prices for Badger State. Ultimately, the median price per square foot is $51, while a number of physicians per 1,000 citizens comes to 2.36.
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6. Rhinelander
Total points: 39
Rhinelander is surrounded by lakes and is one of the best places to retire to among cities on this list of 11 best places to retire in Wisconsin. It’s located on the shores of Boom Lake and Wisconsin River in the Oneida County and has close to 8,000 inhabitants. Although surrounded by natural wonders, Rhinelander is tied in terms of fourth lowest housing index which amounts to 54.5. Median housing price per square foot according to Realtor comes to $70, on the other hand. The healthcare index average of 107.5 and grocery index average of 96.5 help propel Rhineland to the sixth spot on this list as well, and so do 2.96 physicians per 1,000 inhabitants.
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5. Merrill
Total points: 39
County seat of Lincoln County has some 9,500 citizens. One of Merrill’s boasting points is Wisconsin River, which flows straight through the heart of the city. Merrill has the third lowest average housing index on this list of 52. This means the city is less expensive than the national average by whopping 50%. On the other hand, healthcare index amounts to 109.5, while groceries index comes to 96.05. Median housing price per square foot is $41, but there are only 1.25 physicians per 1,000 inhabitants in Merrill.
4. Antigo
Total points: 39
Antigo is the county seat of Langlade County, and it has some 8,000 inhabitants. Antigo’s main advantage for prospective retirees is its second lowest median housing index of 48.5. The average square foot price of $39 is the absolute lowest on the list, on the other hand. Healthcare and grocery indexes according to Sperling’s Best Places and AreaVibes, however, are more or less average. They amount to 109 and 96.05 respectively. Antigo has one downside, though, and that’s 1.22 physicians per 1,000 inhabitants which is the lowest such figure on the entire list.
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3. Marshfield
Total points: 40
Marshfield in the heart of the Badger State has around 19,000 inhabitants. The city stretches across both Marathon and Wood counties, although more than 18,000 of Marshfield’s inhabitants live in Wood County. Marshfield has a relatively high housing index of 71, and average healthcare and grocery indexes of 106 and 97.6 respectively. Median price per square foot amounts to $57, and the city features extremely good 7.67 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants – by far he most on this list.
Jeff the quiet
2. Wausau
Total points: 40
Wausau is the largest city making this list. It has around 39,000 citizens, and it’s the seat of Marathon County in the heart of Wisconsin. Apart from Wisconsin River, which passes through the center of the city, Wausau partly lies on Big Rib River and Eau Claire River which are Wisconsin River’s tributaries. The city itself has the average housing index of 57 which is quite a good deal for such prolific city. The median housing price of $49 per square foot, too is something of a coup. The healthcare index comes to 106 and grocery index amounts to 98.25. Finally, Wausau has 3.53 physicians of all type per 1,000 inhabitants.
Iulus Ascanius at English Wikipedia
1. Marinette
Total points: 46
Number one spot on this list of 11 best places to retire in Wisconsin goes to Marinette. This small city of some 11,000 inhabitants is located in the Badger State’s northeast where the Menominee River flows into Green Bay and Lake Michigan. Marinette is also the seat of the eponymous county. Marinette features the absolute lowest housing index on this list of 47.5 and very low median housing price per square foot of $44. According to Sperling’s Best Places and AreaVibes, Marinette features healthcare index of 108 and grocery index of 93.7 which is, incidentally, the lowest on this list as well. Finally, Marinette has 4.48 physicians per 1,000 inhabitants which too is the highest amount, not counting Marshfield of course.
U.S. Navy photo/Released
