Money Magazine: Best places to retire 2006: Boston, MA snapshot

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Winners

Boston, MA Population: 575,959 Population, age 50+: 139,796 Population growth, age 50+: 5.82%
Taxes
	City stats
State income tax rate (highest bracket)	5.30%^*
State income tax rate (lowest bracket)	5.30%^*
Retirement tax break from state?	No
State property taxes	Above average
Sales tax	5.00%
State gas tax (cents per gallon)	21.0
Housing
	City stats
Median home price	$398,000
Home price gain (2004-2005)	3.60%
Financial
	City stats
Median household income (per year)	$42,872
Auto insurance premiums (Average for the state)	n/a
Quality of life
	City stats
Air quality index (% of days AQI ranked as good)	59.2%
Personal crime risk (100 is nat'l average; lower is better)	315
Property crime risk (100 is nat'l average; lower is better)	173
Personal crime incidents (per 100,000)	1,192
Property crime incidents (per 100,000)	4,761
Leisure and culture
	City stats
Movie theaters (within 15 miles)	54
Restaurants (within 15 miles)	5,991
Bars (within 15 miles)	214
Public golf courses (within 30 miles)	127
Libraries (within 15 miles)	157
Museums (accredited by AAM within 30 miles)	23
Colleges, universities and professional schools	52
Ski resorts (within 100 miles)	18
Weather
	City stats
Annual precipitation (inches)	42.53
Clear days	98
High temp in July ° F	82.2°
Low temp in Jan ° F	22.1°
Health***
	City stats
Hospitals (within 30 miles)	183
Doctors' offices	1,068
Body mass index (avg. for residents)	26
Cancer mortality (per 100,000, age-adjusted)	242.5
Cardiac mortality (per 100,000)	200.0
Meet the neighbors
	City stats
Median age	32.5
Completed at least some college (% of residents)	60.9%
Married	28.0%
Divorced	7.2%

*Income tax notes:
15 states have statutory provision for automatic adjustment of tax brackets, personal exemption or standard deductions to the rate of inflation. Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska and Ohio indexes the personal exemption amounts only.
***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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	Golf activity index (100=national avg., 200=twice national avg.)
Coconut Creek, FL	141
Palm Harbor, FL	139
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Tennis
	Tennis activity index (100=national avg., 200=twice national avg.)
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Brookline, MA	32.5
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	Median age
Tamarac, FL	49.69
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