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California
Five towns with top-notch health care, loads of culture, lots of green space and low taxes were selected as the Best Places to Retire this year. How do other places rate? See key data for the 700+ U.S. cities from the Best Places to Live database. All have populations exceeding 50,000.
City
Population
Alameda 71,757
Alhambra 89,110
Aliso Viejo 52,909
Anaheim 345,757
Antioch 99,496
Apple Valley 62,584
Arcadia 56,565
Arden-Arcade 103,770
Bakersfield 274,413
Baldwin Park 79,736
Bellflower 76,626
Berkeley 103,720
Buena Park 80,693
Burbank 105,605
Camarillo 61,406
Carlsbad 87,542
Carmichael 54,205
Carson 95,781
Castro Valley 57,196
Cathedral City 54,231
Cerritos 53,951
Chico 64,425
Chino 74,564
Chino Hills 80,527
Chula Vista 199,154
Citrus Heights 93,472
Clovis 78,523
Colton 54,602
Compton 98,208
Concord 130,914
Corona 166,346
Costa Mesa 111,355
Covina 49,356
Cupertino 50,489
Daly City 100,839
Davis 68,360
Diamond Bar 59,474
Downey 111,848
East Los Angeles 130,477
El Cajon 98,446
El Monte 123,058
Elk Grove 69,928
Encinitas 60,888
Escondido 140,971
Fairfield 104,258
Florence-Graham 63,691
Folsom 65,600
Fontana 146,840
Fountain Valley 58,149
Fremont 207,198
Fresno 464,859
Fullerton 131,113
Garden Grove 170,614
Gardena 61,681
Glendale 203,943
Glendora 51,608
Goleta 55,352
Hacienda Heights 55,126
Hawthorne 88,028
Hayward 141,248
Hemet 70,979
Hesperia 72,765
Highland 50,397
Huntington Beach 196,188
Huntington Park 65,144
Indio 62,449
Inglewood 118,108
Irvine 155,824
La Habra 60,354
La Mesa 56,022
Laguna Niguel 66,724
Lake Forest 62,601
Lakewood 82,306
Lancaster 128,088
Livermore 78,400
Lodi 67,241
Long Beach 484,289
Los Angeles 3,904,507
Lynwood 72,883
Madera 49,239
Manteca 58,209
Merced 72,481
Milpitas 60,877
Mission Viejo 102,530
Modesto 216,489
Montebello 65,824
Monterey Park 63,481
Moreno Valley 171,117
Mountain View 70,524
Murrieta 63,444
Napa 79,589
National City 55,171
Newport Beach 76,674
Norwalk 108,230
Oakland 404,225
Oceanside 171,575
Ontario 181,583
Orange 135,817
Oxnard 184,901
Palm Desert 50,933
Palm Springs 50,363
Palmdale 130,643
Palo Alto 57,223
Paramount 58,251
Pasadena 141,633
Petaluma 56,893
Pico Rivera 66,604
Pittsburg 62,724
Pleasanton 66,797
Pomona 157,786
Poway 51,465
Rancho Cordova 60,780
Rancho Cucamonga 149,200
Rancho Santa Margarita 53,810
Redding 90,045
Redlands 70,605
Redondo Beach 66,211
Redwood City 72,895
Rialto 103,417
Richmond 106,006
Riverside 305,255
Rosemead 56,256
Roseville 106,213
Rowland Heights 50,519
Sacramento 456,398
Salinas 160,122
San Bernardino 204,797
San Buenaventura (Ventura) 107,817
San Clemente 53,228
San Diego 1,255,500
San Francisco 734,587
San Jose 889,309
San Leandro 80,817
San Marcos 62,420
San Mateo 90,854
San Rafael 55,722
San Ramon 49,811
Santa Ana 351,036
Santa Barbara 91,621
Santa Clara 101,582
Santa Clarita 172,500
Santa Cruz 53,484
Santa Maria 78,049
Santa Monica 90,208
Santa Rosa 149,415
Santee 55,062
Simi Valley 118,700
South Gate 101,200
South San Francisco 59,597
South Whittier 57,981
Stockton 291,919
Sunnyvale 132,884
Temecula 82,696
Thousand Oaks 124,819
Torrance 144,596
Tracy 70,418
Turlock 65,070
Tustin 74,157
Union City 67,918
Upland 75,676
Vacaville 95,240
Vallejo 123,160
Victorville 74,972
Visalia 99,575
Vista 94,520
Walnut Creek 68,828
West Covina 110,376
Westminster 94,172
Whittier 87,232
Woodland 54,235
Yorba Linda 62,470
Yuba City 41,049
