Methodology and sources

Every important number here should answer three questions: what is the estimated cost, why is it that amount, and how confident are we. This page explains the third one.

What our confidence labels mean

High confidence: Direct authoritative data for this jurisdiction, or a figure you confirmed yourself.
Moderate confidence: Strong local data or a well-grounded model, but not specific to one property.
Estimated: Modelled, or drawn from a broader area than the place you asked about.
Needs verification: Likely to vary and not reliably known. Check this before you rely on it.

When exact data isn't available

We fall back to the next most specific defensible figure — the tax jurisdiction, then the municipality, then the county, then the state — and we tell you which rung we landed on. A broader average is never presented as though it were specific to your location.

Unknown is not zero

Some costs — community fees and special assessments above all — often can't be determined from public records. Where that happens we show the category as unknown and ask you to verify it. We don't drop it from the total and let you believe it's free.

Model scenarios

Some guides use a model scenario: a worked example, built by RetireLocation, that shows how a decision plays out for a hypothetical household. A model scenario is an illustration, not a forecast, and not advice for any particular person.

Every model scenario on this site follows the same rules:

Stated inputs. Each input is either a figure from a named public dataset, with its year, or an assumption we chose, labeled as an assumption.
Shown arithmetic. The calculation is simple enough to check by hand, and the guide shows the steps or the formula.
A date. Each scenario notes when its figures were current. Tax rules, benefit amounts, and prices change.
Stated exclusions. Each scenario says what it leaves out, such as taxes not modeled or fees assumed to be zero.
No hidden data. If a scenario uses a number that isn't in a public source or stated as an assumption, it doesn't belong on this site.

The scenarios used in our guides are listed below.

Your Social Security Check Doesn't Move With You — and That's the Point

The question it answers

For a couple with fixed guaranteed income, how much does a lower-cost county reduce what they must withdraw from savings, their withdrawal rate, and how long their savings last?

Inputs

AgesBoth 65 (assumption)
Savings$1,000,000 (assumption)
Combined Social Security$48,000 a year (assumption)
All-in annual spending, taxes included$110,000 in a high-cost suburban county; $85,000 in a mid-size metro county; $70,000 in a lower-cost county near a regional hospital (assumption)
LocationAll three counties in the same state, so state income tax is identical (assumption)
InflationSpending and Social Security both rise with inflation (assumption)
Investment returnA steady 2% a year after inflation (assumption)
Released home equity (second step)$450,000, added to savings, with a move to the lower-cost county (assumption)

The calculation

Needed from savings = all-in spending − Social Security. For example, $110,000 − $48,000 = $62,000.
Withdrawal rate = needed from savings ÷ savings. For example, $62,000 ÷ $1,000,000 = 6.2%; $37,000 = 3.7%; $22,000 = 2.2%.
How long savings last: the balance earns 2% a year after inflation while the inflation-adjusted withdrawal comes out, until it runs out. Result: about age 84, about age 103, and beyond 105.
With released equity: $22,000 ÷ ($1,000,000 + $450,000) ≈ 1.5%.

Date

Figures current as of September 2026.

What it excludes

Market ups and downs: returns are assumed steady, and real markets are not. Sequence-of-returns risk is discussed in the guide but not modeled.
Differences in state income tax, since all three counties are in the same state.
Non-financial factors the guide says matter once the withdrawal rate is safe: distance from family, hospital access in your 80s, and community.