Kansas City sits in the middle of two top places to retire in 2025, Forbes says
Alumni of two rival universities might be surprised to see themselves on the same side in the latest ranking by business magazine Forbes.
The hometowns of the University of Missouri and the University of Kansas were included on Forbes’ list of the 25 best places to retire in the United States, which Forbes writer William P. Barrett said highlights locales offering a high quality of life in the U.S. at a comparatively affordable price.
Forbes compared more than 950 cities, with housing costs, taxes, health care, air quality, crime, and climate change and natural hazard risk being major factors in its methodology. The median price of single-family homes nationwide has jumped 50% to $404,000 since 2020, according to the National Association of Realtors, and Forbes found that 22 of the 25 cities on the list were below the median, including Columbia and Lawrence.
The magazine says it gathered data from the FBI, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Zillow, the League of American Bicyclists, individual state tax departments and other national sources.
The list is ranked alphabetically, so Tigers and Jayhawks won’t be able to fight over the superior college town this time. Here are the statistics behind each town’s inclusion, according to Forbes.
Best places to retire: Columbia
Columbia isn’t just home to the University of Missouri; the all-women Stephens College and private school Columbia College are also located in this city of 130,000 residents, two hours east of Kansas City.
The median home price in Columbia is $306,000, 24% below the national median. Forbes says in its description of the city that it has an excellent ratio of primary care doctors per capita and good air quality.
Columbia also has the lowest income tax rate in Missouri, which covers most filers. It was just lowered to 4.7%, with no taxation of Social Security. There is also no state estate or inheritance tax.
The negatives about Columbia include a serious crime rate just above the national average. It also received a low walkability rating from Forbes. walkable. Forbes does not list what the serious crime rate is in its description of Columbia. The town reported 2,443 serious crimes in 2024, according to the Columbia Police Department.
Best places to retire: Lawrence
The ultimate college town of Lawrence is 45 minutes west of Kansas City, and hosts 97,000 residents. Forbes says in its description of Lawrence that it has a good ratio of primary care physicians per capita and good air quality.
Lawrence is very bikeable and the serious crime rate is “considerably below national average,” according to Forbes. The median home price of $318,000 is 21% below the national median price.
The cons of living in Lawrence? A so-so retiree state tax climate. The state income tax is 5.58% for couples with taxable income above $46,000, but it’s no longer applied to Social Security. The town’s local tax rate is 9.35%.
This story was originally published May 13, 2025 at 3:23 PM.
