Affordable Retirement Cities In America Where You Can See All Four Seasons

Much ado is made about retiring to sun-kissed, soft-sanded, warm-watered — plus other compound adjectives — tropical areas. But really, wouldn't it get boring? Sure, some such areas, like Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean, are actually affordable. They're much more affordable than, say, America's most expensive place to retire, Saratoga in California. Then there's an upper-crust, East Coast alternative like the prophetically-named Lake Success, which combines suburban life with New York City access. In the northeast, you've at least got all four distinct seasons with activities, foods, weather, and feelings befitting all of them. Around the whole U.S., in fact, there are a decent number of similar, four-season options for retirement that are actually affordable. 

But first, we've got to clarify a couple of things. "Affordable" can mean something very different to different people, but we don't mean it as a euphemism for "impoverished." Also, when we speak of the four seasons, we mean distinctly identifiable seasons, like cold and snowy winters, crisp and foliage-rich autumn, and so on. Every place on Earth experiences seasons as we revolve around the sun, but quite differently depending on latitude and geography. And finally, because the U.S. is so enormous, this article shouldn't be taken as the end-all, be-all, perfectly comprehensive list. There are many, many choices that balance the four seasons with affordability, comfort, options for activities, access to healthcare, ease of getting around, and any other factor that concerns retirees — or anyone else, for that matter. 

Taking all such conditions into account, we can point to a handful of good retirement spots. In no particular order, there's Belfast in Maine, Mount Airy in North Carolina, Harrison in Michigan, Youngstown in Ohio, and Klamath Falls in Oregon.

Maine occupies a singular place in the American landscape, one that defines both its character as a state and its appeal to retirees. Right at the northeastern tip of the country in New England, the Pine Tree State is a common getaway spot renowned for its seafood. Plus, its entire landmass is 89% covered in forests that shift with the seasons. These facets also limit choices for retirees, though. The walkable and picturesque Bar Harbor next to Acadia National Park, for instance, would make a great retirement spot if not for the glut of summer tourists clogging the streets and driving up housing prices via short-term rentals. Camden often sits at the top of retirement lists, but it has a median home price of about $660,000.

All things considered, it's Belfast that makes an excellent, affordable choice for retirees. Located at the mouth of the Passagassawakeag River as it empties into Belfast Bay, Belfast is something of an underrated, artsy, coastal gem with all the best New England has to offer, minus the out-of-reach prices. Its downtown is compact, actually walkable, and leads to an equally walkable waterfront, all of which is excellent for seniors needing movement. Belfast is also surrounded by forests that balance out a variety of little parks in town, like the coastal Belfast City Park that overlooks the bay. And then there's the temperature, which is precisely what you'd expect: frozen in winter, balmy in summer, comfortable in spring, and chilly in autumn. In Belfast, you've got the whole range of weather, from radiant to blustery, plus all the colorful fall foliage you'd expect from New England. Finally, average housing prices are in the $385,000 range.

New Englanders will no doubt scoff at any notion of the Carolinas being able to experience a true four seasons. But lo and behold, North Carolina does exactly that, but with a more compressed temperature range that cuts out the extreme hot and cold on either end. Summer sun, spring greenery, autumn foliage, and winter snow await in North Carolina, as its geography spans the flat estuaries of the coast through the peaks and valleys of the Appalachian Mountains in the west. This isn't news to locals, however, especially in places that are great for retirement, but not so great on the budget, like Asheville and Raleigh.. Much like in Maine, we need to look beyond cities and find a sweet spot that strikes a balance between affordability and the best of what the state and region have to offer.

On that note, Mount Airy makes a top-tier resting stop in one's twilight years, and not just because it inspired the fictional Mayberry in that classic piece of black-and-white Americana, "The Andy Griffith Show." Located along North Carolina's northern border with Virginia, Mount Airy truly lives up to its name as an outdoorsy, easy-breezy town nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains at an elevation of about 1,100 feet. Plus, it has some Hollywood history and delicious, locally-owned eateries. Mounty Airy is festooned in parks that change with the seasons, very seldomly gets below 19 degrees Fahrenheit or above 93 degrees, affords plenty of walking opportunities in nature, and even has an extremely cute, walkable downtown. And, this all comes with an eyebrow-raisingly affordable price tag of about $200,000 for a house.

Located right along the Canadian border, Michigan is ideally situated for retirees to experience all four seasons. Its upper and lower peninsulas curve around the Great Lakes, drawing people out onto their waters, while the interior is saturated in a whopping 19.3 million acres of forests. This includes sizable parks like Ottawa National Forest, Gwinn State Forest Area, Hiawatha National Forest, and more. Such parks, plus the lakes, make Michigan an ideal place to experience all four seasons, bearing in mind that the state skews colder than not (summer temperatures rarely go above 82 degrees Fahrenheit). However, like before, we've got to find a balance between interesting things to do and access to nature, while simultaneously avoiding places that are suitable for retirement but tend to attract folks with net worths ranging between $2 and $5 million, such as the lively city of Ann Arbor.

And so we look north from Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Grand Rapids towards the exact middle of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. There, we find inconspicuous Harrison (population: about 2,200), not to be confused with the coastal Harrison Charter Township next to Anchor Bay northeast of Detroit. Sitting right along Budd Lake next to Wilson State Park, Harrison is even more lowkey than Belfast or Mounty Airy, but is ideally suited to a quiet, suburban, lakeside, affordable retirement within reach of all four seasons. Life in Harrison always keeps one foot in the outdoors, with activities that change with the season, such as golfing, camping, skiing, swimming, and boating. Plus, Roscommon State Forest Area is less than 30 minutes away, up Route 127. On top of all this, houses in Harrison typically go for an amazingly affordable $125,000.

Since we might as well continue our trend of increasingly lower housing costs, we turn our attention to Youngstown, Ohio. There, the median home price is a mere $66,000 – a number that's likely to make some jaws drop. This affordability made Youngstown the cheapest retirement option across the whole U.S. in 2024, and even drew cost comparisons to Mexico and Portugal. As a midwestern state bordering Lake Erie in the north, Ohio, on a whole, experiences a distinct four seasons, but has a relatively narrow temperature range of about 34 to 74 degrees Fahrenheit. It's got snow, sun, rain, foliage, mountains, forests, parks, and everything else that nature-minded retirees would want, all at a bargain price.

Thankfully, Youngstown is actually well-suited to retirement. Located near the eastern border of Ohio and within striking distance of Cleveland (75 miles away) and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania (67 miles away), Youngstown offers retirees a more urban life, but not urban in an overwhelming kind of way. There are cultural hotspots to explore inside town, like The Butler Institute of American Art and the Arms Family Museum, as well as tons of dining establishments — but these are balanced out by opportunities to get close to nature both in and outside of town. Specifically, the Mill Creek MetroPark system oversees 5,000 acres of scattered parks within Youngstown to explore and enjoy throughout the year.

The only potential downside of retirement in Youngstown relates to crime, which, as Niche illustrates, is generally higher than the national average across the board. But much like any city, crime tends to concentrate in certain downtown areas. This is just something to bear in mind if considering retiring to Youngstown.

We might as well head to that bounty of grandest nature, the Pacific Northwest, for our final, four-season retirement choice. In Oregon, the temperature range generally spans from 35 to 81 degrees Fahrenheit, complete with tons of stereotypical rain from autumn into winter. But in southern Oregon at Klamath Falls near the California border, the temperature range expands from 22 to 85 degrees, which adds an extra element of dynamism to those who want distinct springs, summers, autumns, and winters. It's especially fantastic because even though Klamath Falls gets colder and hotter than Oregon as a whole, it's still the "City of Sunshine" with about 300 days of sun per year. Add to this a median house price of about $300,000 — compared to $524,000 in Portland or $473,000 in Eugene — and you've got an outdoorsy recipe for retirement happiness.

Much like the other locations in this article, Klamath Falls' geography tells its suitability story. It's adjacent to the 90,000-acre Upper Klamath Lake, contains Lake Ewauna within its borders, is encased by mountainous greenery on its north side, and bleeds off into the scruffy northern California grasslands on its south side. Visitors and residents have access to a smorgasbord of outdoor activities, from woodland hiking trails to easy-going golf courses. This makes it perfect for retirees who prefer a more active lifestyle in addition to wanting all four seasons. Downtown Klamath Falls isn't too shabby, either, and makes for a perfect, strollable strip of shops and eateries, particularly along Main Street as it heads west towards Lake Ewuana. Even amongst a varied array of affordable retirement options, Klamath Falls stands out for exceptional beauty blended with a very comfortable daily lifestyle.