Money Magazine: Best places to retire 2006: Grand Rapids, MI snapshot

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Winners

Grand Rapids, MI Population: 201,835 Population, age 50+: 50,289 Population growth, age 50+: 14.54%
Taxes
	City stats
State income tax rate (highest bracket)	3.90%^*
State income tax rate (lowest bracket)	3.90%^*
Retirement tax break from state?	Yes
State property taxes	Average
Sales tax	6.00%
State gas tax (cents per gallon)	19.0
Housing
	City stats
Median home price	$114,000
Home price gain (2004-2005)	1.80%
Financial
	City stats
Median household income (per year)	$40,584
Auto insurance premiums (Average for the state)	$2,575
Quality of life
	City stats
Air quality index (% of days AQI ranked as good)	23.0%
Personal crime risk (100 is nat'l average; lower is better)	179
Property crime risk (100 is nat'l average; lower is better)	124
Personal crime incidents (per 100,000)	1,036
Property crime incidents (per 100,000)	4,803
Leisure and culture
	City stats
Movie theaters (within 15 miles)	15
Restaurants (within 15 miles)	1,348
Bars (within 15 miles)	82
Public golf courses (within 30 miles)	74
Libraries (within 15 miles)	31
Museums (accredited by AAM within 30 miles)	3
Colleges, universities and professional schools	10
Ski resorts (within 100 miles)	10
Weather
	City stats
Annual precipitation (inches)	37.13
Clear days	75
High temp in July ° F	82.3°
Low temp in Jan ° F	15.6°
Health***
	City stats
Hospitals (within 30 miles)	49
Doctors' offices	407
Body mass index (avg. for residents)	27
Cancer mortality (per 100,000, age-adjusted)	185.8
Cardiac mortality (per 100,000)	204.7
Meet the neighbors
	City stats
Median age	30.6
Completed at least some college (% of residents)	52.6%
Married	39.7%
Divorced	10.9%

*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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