Carson City area ranks high for retirement

Carson City and Gardnerville rank as the top places in Nevada to retire, according to smartasset.com, a website on money and related matters.

Carson City ranked second in the state, right behind Gardnerville in Douglas County, as both those communities left Las Vegas behind and in third place. In overall rankings, the finance/lifestyle website put six communities from the northern part of the state and four to the south in the top 10.

Carson City placed second by coming in eighth on tax burden, fourth regarding medical matters and third on the recreation and social opportunities front. Gardnerville, meanwhile, topped the state by being sixth on tax burden, third for medical care and first in the recreation/social assessment.

Carson City public and private boosters say it’s another insight by outsiders about the great place in which residents live, play and — if they haven’t yet retired — work.

“I think it’s another indiction why Carson City is the No. 1 travel worthy capital in the nation,” said Mayor Robert Crowell, hearkening to the recent naming by a USA Today newspaper poll of Carson City as the best state capital to visit. Crowell said folks should come for a visit and come back to retire. He stressed it’s a great place for everyone — retirees, young people and everyone in between.

He was joined by the Chamber of Commerce chairperson in praising the city and the news.

“I’ve been promoting Carson City from the day I arrived,” said Terrie McNutt, who heads the chamber board and is the general manager at Silver Oak Golf Course and Executive Conference Center. She listed several reasons the city has “all the things I need” and added: “That survey speaks to all those points.”

She said since arriving in 1971, she has worked in tourism, education and recreation, adding “all of those things are so positive in Carson City. We promote them; we support them. That’s what it’s all about, I believe.”

Trailing Las Vegas, the rest of the top 10 retirement places in Nevada were Fallon, Elko, Winnemucca, Reno, Boulder City, Henderson and Mesquite. Winners by category, along with Gardnerville for recreation/social, were Elko for tax burden and Las Vegas for medical care.

Smartasset.com ranked communities across the nation for retirement, listing Gardnerville in position 165 and Carson City at 376. Of the top 10 nationally, nine were in Florida and one was in Delaware. Smartasset.com provides advice and calculators not only on retirement, but also deals with home buying, refinance matters, life insurance, checking accounts, both credit cards and monitoring, student loans and the like.