Nation.Cymru staff
Retirement is about far more than property prices. Personal safety, affordability and life expectancy can all play a major role in determining where people enjoy the highest quality of life in their later years.
To identify the best retirement destinations, workplace pension provider Penfold analysed the most recent government data for 45 major cities across the UK to measure three factors that matter most in later life: health, affordability and safety. These measures were based on raw figures on life expectancy, median house price and crimes committed per 1,000 people.
Each area received an overall retirement score out of 100 based on its performance across the three key retirement factors.
Perth is the best place to retire in the UK, achieving a perfect retirement score of 100. The Scottish city combines an above-average life expectancy at age 65 (20 years), low crime levels and affordable housing.
Inverness takes second place with a retirement score of 93. The Scottish city benefits from a life expectancy of 19.6 years at age 65, alongside one of the strongest safety scores in the study (97.1). Relatively affordable housing, with a median property price of £221,136, further strengthens its appeal as a retirement destination.
In third place is Stirling, with a score of 91.3, where residents can experience one of the lowest crime rates at 39.9 crimes per 1,000 people. Strong health scores and relatively affordable housing help another Scottish city secure a place within the top three.
Aberdeen also makes the top five with an overall score of 87.1, while Derry in Northern Ireland places fifth with a retirement score of 78.1. Both cities have the two lowest house prices in the top 10 at £130,689 and £189,474, and both share the same life expectancy of 19 years at age 65.
York (77.5), Swansea (74.8), Exeter (73.9), Plymouth (69.1) and Edinburgh (66.2) complete the top 10. York stands out for achieving the highest health score in the top 10, while Swansea becomes the first Welsh city to appear in the best places to retire ranking.
Meanwhile, other Welsh cities, Cardiff and Newport came in at 21st and 23rd respectively in the rankings.
Frankie Dewar, Head of Marketing at Penfold, commented on the findings:
“The highest-ranked areas tend to combine several strengths, including longer life expectancy, strong health outcomes and low crime rates. Those factors often prove just as important as affordability when people are choosing where to spend later life. Choosing your retirement destination isn’t necessarily about the cheapest places to buy a home, but about other surrounding factors.
“Swansea’s top-10 finish shows that some of the strongest retirement destinations aren’t necessarily the most expensive or most talked about. Its well-rounded performance across the three pillars of the study helped it stand out as Wales’ leading retirement location.”
And at the other end of the scale…
Sources:
· ONS Life expectancy for local areas of the UK, 2022-2024
· UK House Price Index average price, July 2026 (HM Land Registry; NISRA NI HPI Q2-2026 for NI)
· Home Office recorded crime (England & Wales, March 2024); Police Scotland Recorded Crime in Scotland 2024-25; PSNI recorded crime 2024-25
· ONS/NRS/NISRA mid-year population estimates
Methodology:
To identify the best retirement destinations, workplace pension provider Penfold analysed 45 major UK cities across the UK using three retirement measures:
· Life expectancy at age 65
· Median house price
· Crime rate per 1,000 residents
Life expectancy data was used to create a health score, while median house prices and crime rates were used to generate affordability and safety scores, respectively.
Each local authority received a score across the three pillars of health, affordability and safety. These were standardised and combined using equal weighting to produce an overall retirement score out of 100.
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