Money Magazine: Best places to retire 2006: Metairie, LA snapshot

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Winners

Metairie, LA Population: 141,537 Population, age 50+: 52,190 Population growth, age 50+: 5.64%
Taxes
	City stats
State income tax rate (highest bracket)	6.00%^*
State income tax rate (lowest bracket)	2.00%^*
Retirement tax break from state?	Yes
State property taxes	Below average
Sales tax	8.75%
State gas tax (cents per gallon)	20.0
Housing
	City stats
Median home price	$183,000
Home price gain (2004-2005)	14.40%
Financial
	City stats
Median household income (per year)	$44,767
Auto insurance premiums (Average for the state)	$3,099
Quality of life
	City stats
Air quality index (% of days AQI ranked as good)	66.9%
Personal crime risk (100 is nat'l average; lower is better)	15
Property crime risk (100 is nat'l average; lower is better)	14
Personal crime incidents (per 100,000)	n/a
Property crime incidents (per 100,000)	n/a
Leisure and culture
	City stats
Movie theaters (within 15 miles)	23
Restaurants (within 15 miles)	2,101
Bars (within 15 miles)	474
Public golf courses (within 30 miles)	15
Libraries (within 15 miles)	45
Museums (accredited by AAM within 30 miles)	6
Colleges, universities and professional schools	11
Ski resorts (within 100 miles)	0
Weather
	City stats
Annual precipitation (inches)	64.16
Clear days	101
High temp in July ° F	91.1°
Low temp in Jan ° F	43.4°
Health***
	City stats
Hospitals (within 30 miles)	77
Doctors' offices	490
Body mass index (avg. for residents)	27
Cancer mortality (per 100,000, age-adjusted)	221.1
Cardiac mortality (per 100,000)	241.8
Meet the neighbors
	City stats
Median age	40.2
Completed at least some college (% of residents)	60.6%
Married	49.8%
Divorced	12.1%

*Income tax notes:
For joint returns, the taxes are twice the tax imposed on half the income.
Combined personal exemption and standard deduction.
***County data

Data: OnBoard, FORTUNE. Details

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Additional data and consulting services provided by Bert Sperling's bestplaces.net.

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