Best Places To Retire In 2025 (For Leisure Activities)

Forbes just dropped its 2025 list of the top 25 dream retirement spots—handpicked from nearly a thousand U.S. towns with more than 10,000 people (so, bigger than a shoebox). Disaster zones didn’t make the cut (sorry, Florida—hurricanes kill the vibe), and the winners lean heavy on art scenes, good food, lifelong learning, lakes, trails, and golf galore. Cost of living mattered, but lifestyle ruled. In short: it’s all about living your best grandparent life without choking on smog or outrunning tornadoes. Let’s peek at the highlights.

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Here are Five Fast Facts about great retirement spots for leisure activities:

1. 🏖️ Safety First - By avoiding high-risk disaster zones, only one Florida spot, Sarasota, snuck in with its beaches and 90 golf courses. But homes are below the national median and you still get that great beachy vibe!

2. 🤓 College Town Takeover - About one-third of the picks (like Ann Arbor, Athens, and Iowa City) are brainy university hubs, loaded with free senior classes, arts fests, and docs galore. University of Michigan's lifelong learning catalog is over 100 pages thick, thicker than your math textbook!

3. 💰 Wallet-Friendly Wins - The national median home price is a whopping $423,000, but a bunch of spots on the list (like Iowa City at $294,000 -- 31% cheaper -- or Pittsfield at $307,000) keep costs low so you can splurge on lobster rolls instead of mortgages.

4. 👍 Passion Power-Up - Big cities like Austin and Boston nail all six fun categories (arts, dining, learning, water, land, and golf), while niche nuts like Flagstaff (hiking heaven at 7,000 feet) or Pinehurst (40 golf courses!) let you obsess over one thing without FOMO.

5. 😁 Health And Safety High-Fives - Most spots boast super doc ratios (like "extraordinarily good" in Ann Arbor), crisp air, low crime, and walkable/bikeable streets. Think Boston's subway golf commutes or Bend's river tubing; cold winters and high taxes (Oregon's 9.9% ouch!) are the only buzzkills.

🔥Bottom line: This list from Forbes proves that golden years don't mean bingo in a boring bunker! Grab your clubs, hiking boots, or theater tickets and migrate to these passion-packed paradises! From Chesapeake Bay boating in Annapolis to desert horseback rides in Scottsdale, there's a spot to make your inner adventurer (or couch potato with culture) feel all the warm fuzzies. It's time to live the dream!

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Are you heading for a passion paradise anytime soon?

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