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A coastal NorCal county has cracked the list of “Best Places to Retire in the West” — along with several other California counties.
The report, released by investing research platform The Motley Fool, ranked locations across the American West based on seven factors of retired life: healthcare, housing affordability, crime and safety, climate, state and local taxes, on-housing affordability, and overall quality of life.
NorCal’s Mendocino County ranked number seven on the list.
“Mendocino County offers a quiet, scenic coastal lifestyle with small towns, redwood forests, and rugged Pacific Ocean views,” the report reads.
The platform noted Mendocino for its access to nature, including Headlands State Park and Glass Beach. Summers in the NorCal county also tend to be cooler than more inland places in California, and the cost of living is in line with the national average, according to the report.
The downsides of the county include its limited healthcare access, higher housing costs in relation to wages, and a higher tax burden. You’ll have to drive far to make it to shopping, airports, and medical care.
The climate in the county is also a drawback, with often overcast and foggy conditions.
Located between the San Francisco Bay Area and the California/Oregon border, Mendocino is also known for its wine region and cultivation of cannabis.
With a population density of just 26 square miles per person, Mendocino has plenty of space for retirees to spread out.
The county is along California’s “Lost Coast”, a natural, underdeveloped part of the state that includes Humboldt County.
In the inland part of the county, you can find the Mendocino National Forest. Teeming with rich biodiversity, the park spans more than one million acres. It’s also the only forest reserve in the state that isn’t carved up by a major roadway,
The county’s Hendy Woods State Park boasts massive redwoods, while the coast’s unique Glass Beach is loaded with smooth and colorful sea glass pebbles.
Several other California counties made the list, including Humboldt, Sacramento, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and Kern counties.
See full list below:
- Kern County, California
- Denver County, Colorado
- Bernalillo County, New Mexico
- Sacramento County, California
- Stanislaus County, California
- Washoe County, Nevada
- Santa Fe County, New Mexico
- Mendocino County, California
- Tuolumne County, California
- Humboldt County, California
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