Arizona is a perennial contender on listings of the best states in which to retire, and a recent ranking by the website SmartAsset was no exception.
The website analyzed migration data for people age 60 and older to determine each state's "net migration" — the people 60 and older who moved to the state, minus those who left the state — in 2016. By that metric, Arizona had the second-highest net migration of seniors, at nearly 29,000. Only Florida, with nearly 85,000, had more. North Carolina, South Carolina and Nevada rounded out the top five.
Additionally, five Arizona cities made SmartAsset's 10 most popular cities in which to retire: Scottsdale (third), Mesa (fourth), Gilbert (sixth), Surprise (seventh) and Peoria (10th). Scottsdale, with net migration of 1,834, trailed only Henderson, Nevada, and San Antonio, Texas.
Mesa led the nation in net migration by seniors in last year's study, and Phoenix, Chandler, Peoria and Gilbert were in the top 10 on that list.