25 Best Places to Retire

Your post-work years are a time to improve your golf game, take up a new hobby, or just enjoy a well-deserved break. In these great college towns, you can expand your intellectual horizons too.

2 of 25

2. Hanover, NH

Population: 8,516

% over 50: 25%

Median home price: $401,000

State income tax: 5%*

Where to take classes: Dartmouth College

New England is chock full of charming villages. But few are as welcoming to retirees as Hanover, home of Dartmouth College and its 20-year-old senior education program.

Outdoor enthusiasts can kayak on the Connecticut River or hike in the White Mountains. Winter, of course, brings 94 inches of snow on average, so residents make the most of the cold (five ski hills are within an hour's drive) or head south.

Home prices can be high, but you can find less expensive houses within 20 minutes of town in Lyme, Lebanon, or Norwich, Vt. There's no sales tax, and the state doesn't tax retirement plan withdrawals (only interest and dividends). Adding to its retiree friendliness is the standout health care at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock medical center.

See complete data and interactive map for Hanover

NEXT: Lexington, KY

Last updated October 06 2010: 4:55 PM ET

Source: Data sources: OnBoard Informatics, MDA DataQuick, National Association of Realtors, Tax Foundation CCH, a Wolters Klower business.
* top bracket. New Hampshire income tax rate for interest and dividends only.

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