Best places to retire abroad

The best cities for retirees — weighing affordability, mild climate and safety. Top pick: Punta del Este, Uruguay.

Best places to retire abroad — top 12

#	City	Country	Retire score	Livability	Cost	Climate	Safety
1	Punta del Este	Uruguay	74	75	55	100	73
2	Maldonado	Uruguay	72	73	51	100	73
3	Melo	Uruguay	72	73	52	100	70
4	Dundalk	Ireland	72	73	52	97	73
5	Porto	Portugal	71	72	54	100	65
6	Bendigo	Australia	71	72	50	100	69
7	City of Port Phillip	Australia	71	72	50	100	69
8	Ballarat	Australia	71	72	50	100	69
9	Mercedes	Uruguay	71	72	52	98	70
10	Galway	Ireland	71	72	50	99	70
11	Swords	Ireland	71	72	52	98	70
12	Limerick	Ireland	71	72	50	99	70
13	Bhisho	South Africa	71	72	49	100	70
14	Herceg Novi	Montenegro	71	72	54	100	66
15	Cetinje	Montenegro	71	72	54	98	67
16	Tivat	Montenegro	71	72	56	98	65
17	Boquete	Panama	71	71	56	100	62
18	Budva	Montenegro	71	71	54	98	66
19	Hobart	Australia	70	72	48	100	71
20	Albufeira	Portugal	70	71	54	100	62
21	Santander	Spain	70	71	49	100	68
22	Logroño	Spain	70	71	49	98	69
23	Bilbao	Spain	70	71	47	100	69
24	Donostia / San Sebastián	Spain	70	71	49	100	69
25	Bordeaux	France	70	71	48	99	69
26	Rouen	France	70	71	50	95	72
27	Angers	France	70	71	49	98	69
28	Perpignan	France	70	71	50	100	67
29	Caen	France	70	71	50	98	69
30	Geelong	Australia	70	71	48	100	70
31	Zugdidi	Georgia	70	71	52	99	65
32	La Plata	Argentina	70	71	48	100	69
33	Pedro Juan Caballero	Paraguay	70	71	51	97	70
34	Paysandú	Uruguay	70	71	51	94	70
35	Rivera	Uruguay	70	71	51	97	70
36	Tacuarembó	Uruguay	70	71	51	96	70
37	Cork	Ireland	70	71	49	100	69
38	Tallaght	Ireland	70	71	50	96	70
39	Waterford	Ireland	70	71	51	99	68
40	Dubrovnik	Croatia	70	71	53	100	64
41	Mbombela	South Africa	70	71	50	100	66
42	Kotor	Montenegro	70	71	57	92	67
43	Tavira	Portugal	70	70	54	98	62
44	Puerto Vallarta	Mexico	70	70	56	100	59
45	Cartago	Costa Rica	70	70	53	100	62
46	Atenas	Costa Rica	70	70	56	100	58
47	Sokhumi	Georgia	70	70	51	97	67
48	Beau Bassin-Rose Hill	Mauritius	70	70	50	98	67
49	Braga	Portugal	69	70	48	100	65
50	Coimbra	Portugal	69	70	49	100	65

Climate real (WorldClim); cost real (World Bank); hazard tiers indicative.

FAQ

Punta del Este, Uruguay — see the full ranking of 1103 cities.

From open data: climate (WorldClim), cost (World Bank), disaster risk (USGS/FEMA/INFORM), combined into a livability score.