Camellia City ranked the No. 2 retiree destination in state

Published 6:22 pm Tuesday, January 23, 2018

The Camellia City has been named the second-coziest locale in the state of Alabama for retirees, according to a study conducted by SmartAsset.com.

The study considers income taxes and sales taxes, as well as other factors such as the number of doctors’ offices and the opportunity for recreation and social life.

Only Orange Beach, Ala., held a higher rank with a 28.85 index, according to the site’s methodology.

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SmartAsset gathered data on three separate regional factors that affect the quality of life for retirees to determine its methodology.

State and local taxes were the first consideration. SmartAsset calculated the effective rates based on a typical retiree, earning $35,000 annually (from retirement savings, social security or part-time employment), and spending their disposable income on taxable goods.

Then, the number of doctors’ offices, recreation centers and retirement centers per thousand residents were calculated.

The last statistic to be determined was the number of seniors in each area as a percentage of the total population.

In the end, the three factors received a calculated average ranking, and all three were weighted equally. The area with the lowest average ranking is considered the best place to retire.

For Greenville, the average state and local tax was calculated at 16.6 percent.

Also, according to the study, there are 1.6 doctors’ offices per 1,000 people.

There were 0.5 recreation centers per 1,000 people and 0.4 retirement centers per 1,000 people.

Lastly, seniors comprise 15.6 percentage of Greenville’s population.

Of the three factors that drove SmartAsset’s analysis–tax-friendliness, medical care and social life–Greenville placed among the top five of two.

The Camellia City is considered the fourth-best city in the state in terms of recreation and social life, and the third most tax-friendly locale.

Similar-sized cities in South-Central Alabama also made the list, including Brewton at No. 9 and Wetmpka at No. 6.

Orange Beach’s No. 1 spot is mostly attributed to its sizable percentage of seniors relative to the population (27.6 percent), as well as a staggering number of recreation centers per 1,000 people (2.8), which is more than the cities in second, third, fourth and fifth-place combined.