Sandpoint named best place to retire in Idaho

SANDPOINT— Sandpoint is the best place to retire in Idaho, according to the financial question-and-answer website, SmartAsset, which ranked it number one with a rating of 92.73 out of 100.

The site rated cities all over the U.S. based on three factors, including tax burden; availability of doctors’ offices, recreation centers, retirement centers; and the number of seniors in the community. From those the site created a “recreation and social index” rating.

Sandpoint scores were:

• Tax: 10.6 percent

• Doctors’ offices per 1,000 people: 6.6

• Recreation centers per 1,000 people: 0.7

• Retirement centers per 1,000 people: 1.9

• Percent of seniors (in population): 14.5

The south Idaho town of Burley came in a distant second with an index rating of 81.88 percent.

Sandpoint didn’t come in first in all categories in Idaho, however — there are more seniors as a percentage of the population living Lewiston and Hayden.

Nationally, Sandpoint ranked 70th. All but one of the top 10 national cities were in Florida. Seaford, Del. was an outlier at number five due to a very low 5.2 percent tax burden. Stuart, Fla. was the only city to receive a rating of 100.

The website weighted each factor using data from a variety of sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, ZIP code business patterns, Alavara, a sales tax software and support company, and other, unspecified government websites.

It considered the effect of income and sales taxes rates based on a “typical” annual retirement income of $35,000.

The tax burden was identical for all Idaho cities, at 10.6 percent.

To drill down to more detailed information, go to www.smartasset.com, and scroll to “Data Visualization.” Click on the “Best places to retire” link.