The Explorer · free tool
Where could you retire abroad?
Drag the sliders to match what matters to you. The map and rankings update live — 108 destinations, with clear pros and cons on every one.
Researched, sourced, and dated — updated weekly.Monthly budget$3,000/mo
$1,500$6,000
What matters to you
Affordabilitymed
Healthcaremed
Warm climatemed
Safetymed
Close to the USmed
Expat communitymed
English-friendlymed
#1 Lake Chapala (Ajijic) Mexico
85/100
$2,349/mo · eternal spring
lakesmall-towncolonial-town
#2 Coronado Panama
81/100
$3,000/mo · tropical
beachsmall-townquiet
#3 Escazú Costa Rica
80/100
$3,282/mo · eternal spring
big-citywalkablecultural
#4 Panama City Panama
80/100
$3,400/mo · tropical · over budget
big-citywalkablelively
#5 George Town (Penang) Malaysia
79/100
$2,400/mo · tropical
walkableculturalbeach
#6 San Miguel de Allende Mexico
77/100
$2,819/mo · eternal spring
colonial-townwalkablecultural
#7 Playa del Carmen Mexico
77/100
$2,631/mo · tropical
beachwalkablelively
#8 Cabo San Lucas Mexico
77/100
$3,946/mo · arid · over budget
beach-townresortdesert
#9 Mérida Mexico
76/100
$2,255/mo · tropical
colonial-townwalkablecultural
#10 Puerto Vallarta Mexico
76/100
$3,007/mo · tropical
beachwalkablelively
#11 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
75/100
$2,502/mo · tropical
big-cityculturalwalkable
#12 Atenas Costa Rica
74/100
$2,686/mo · eternal spring
small-townmountaineternal-spring
#13 Boquete Panama
74/100
$2,700/mo · eternal spring
mountainsmall-towneternal-spring
#14 Bangkok Thailand
73/100
$2,875/mo · tropical
big-citylivelycultural
#15 San Ignacio Belize
73/100
$2,400/mo · tropical
small-townjunglenature
#16 Dumaguete Philippines
73/100
$1,693/mo · tropical
beachsmall-townwalkable
#17 Málaga Spain
72/100
$3,162/mo · mediterranean
beachwalkablecultural
#18 Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam
72/100
$2,028/mo · tropical
big-citylivelycultural
#19 Ambergris Caye (San Pedro) Belize
72/100
$3,200/mo · tropical
beachislandCaribbean
#20 Lisbon Portugal
71/100
$4,131/mo · mediterranean · over budget
big-citywalkablecultural
#21 Cascais Portugal
71/100
$4,033/mo · mediterranean · over budget
beachcoastalwalkable
#22 Grecia Costa Rica
71/100
$2,287/mo · eternal spring
small-towneternal-springwalkable
#23 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Spain
71/100
$2,855/mo · eternal spring
beachcoastaleternal-spring
#24 Funchal Portugal
70/100
$3,064/mo · eternal spring
islandwalkablemountain
#25 Chiang Mai Thailand
70/100
$2,477/mo · tropical
mountainculturalsmall-town
#26 Hua Hin Thailand
70/100
$2,375/mo · tropical
beachsmall-townquiet
#27 Todos Santos Mexico
70/100
$2,443/mo · arid
beach-townartsybohemian
#28 Placencia Belize
70/100
$2,900/mo · tropical
beachCaribbeansmall-town
#29 Roatán Honduras
70/100
$2,497/mo · tropical
islandbeachCaribbean
#30 Porto Portugal
69/100
$3,162/mo · mediterranean
colonial-townwalkablecultural
#31 Tamarindo Costa Rica
69/100
$3,979/mo · tropical · over budget
beachwalkablelively
#32 Mexico City Mexico
68/100
$2,913/mo · eternal spring
big-cityculturalwalkable
#33 La Paz Mexico
68/100
$2,161/mo · arid
beachsmall-townwalkable
#34 Lagos Portugal
68/100
$3,360/mo · mediterranean · over budget
beachwalkablesmall-town
#35 Medellín Colombia
68/100
$2,824/mo · eternal spring
big-cityeternal-springmountain
#36 Phuket Thailand
68/100
$2,776/mo · tropical
beachtropical-islandlively
#37 Lima (Miraflores) Peru
68/100
$2,270/mo · arid
big-citywalkablecoastal
#38 Alicante Spain
67/100
$3,064/mo · mediterranean
beachwalkablelively
#39 Prague Czechia
67/100
$2,942/mo · four seasons
big-citywalkablecultural
#40 Tavira Portugal
66/100
$3,162/mo · mediterranean
colonial-townbeachwalkable
#41 Barcelona Spain
66/100
$4,033/mo · mediterranean · over budget
big-citybeachwalkable
#42 Oaxaca (Oaxaca de Juárez) Mexico
65/100
$2,255/mo · eternal spring
colonial-townculturalwalkable
#43 Mazatlán Mexico
65/100
$2,819/mo · tropical
beachcolonial-townwalkable
#44 Quito Ecuador
65/100
$2,300/mo · eternal spring
big-citycolonial-townmountain
#45 Antigua Guatemala Guatemala
65/100
$2,799/mo · eternal spring
colonial-townwalkablemountain
#46 Panajachel (Lake Atitlán) Guatemala
65/100
$1,600/mo · eternal spring
lakesmall-towneternal-spring
#47 Ubud (Bali) Indonesia
65/100
$2,780/mo · tropical
tropical-islandculturalnature
#48 Da Nang Vietnam
64/100
$1,927/mo · tropical
beachlivelywalkable-beachfront
#49 Sliema Malta
64/100
$3,728/mo · mediterranean · over budget
beachwalkablelively
#50 Paphos Cyprus
64/100
$2,964/mo · mediterranean
beachmediterraneanwarm
#51 Tulum Mexico
64/100
$3,007/mo · tropical
beach-towntropicaltrendy
#52 Hoi An Vietnam
64/100
$1,826/mo · tropical
small-townriversidehistoric
#53 Fethiye Turkey
64/100
$1,900/mo · mediterranean
coastalresort-townlaid-back
#54 Madrid Spain
63/100
$4,327/mo · four seasons · over budget
big-citywalkablecultural
#55 Chania Greece
63/100
$2,771/mo · mediterranean
beachcolonial-townwalkable
#56 Split Croatia
63/100
$2,573/mo · mediterranean
beachcoastalwalkable
#57 Coimbra Portugal
63/100
$2,573/mo · mediterranean
small-townwalkablecultural
#58 Budapest Hungary
63/100
$2,667/mo · four seasons
big-citywalkablecultural
#59 Antalya Turkey
63/100
$2,100/mo · mediterranean
coastalresort-townbig-city
#60 Bocas del Toro Panama
62/100
$2,300/mo · tropical
islandbeachCaribbean
#61 Pedasí Panama
62/100
$2,200/mo · tropical
small-townbeachlaid-back
#62 Cape Town South Africa
62/100
$2,791/mo · mediterranean
coastalbig-cityscenic
#63 Corfu Greece
62/100
$2,273/mo · mediterranean
islandcoastalgreen
#64 Limassol Cyprus
62/100
$3,532/mo · mediterranean · over budget
coastalbig-citylively
#65 Valencia Spain
60/100
$3,261/mo · mediterranean
big-citywalkablebeach
#66 Santa Marta Colombia
60/100
$2,187/mo · tropical
beachtropicallively
#67 Athens Greece
60/100
$3,261/mo · mediterranean
big-citywalkablecultural
#68 Nice France
60/100
$4,327/mo · mediterranean · over budget
beachwalkablebig-city
#69 Granada Nicaragua
60/100
$2,200/mo · tropical
colonial-townlakewalkable
#70 Querétaro Mexico
60/100
$2,161/mo · eternal spring
colonial-townwalkablecultural
#71 Nosara Costa Rica
60/100
$4,178/mo · tropical · over budget
beachsurf-townwellness
#72 Palma de Mallorca Spain
60/100
$3,826/mo · mediterranean · over budget
coastalbig-citywalkable
#73 Ponta Delgada Portugal
60/100
$2,177/mo · four seasons
small-towncoastalnature
#74 Bilbao Spain
60/100
$3,360/mo · four seasons · over budget
big-cityculturalfoodie
#75 Ljubljana Slovenia
60/100
$3,360/mo · four seasons · over budget
walkablegreenrelaxed
#76 Cartagena Colombia
60/100
$2,599/mo · tropical
colonial-towncoastalwalkable
#77 Las Terrenas Dominican Republic
59/100
$2,897/mo · tropical
beachsmall-townwalkable
#78 Sevilla Spain
59/100
$2,855/mo · mediterranean
big-citywalkablecultural
#79 Granada Spain
59/100
$2,273/mo · four seasons
small-townwalkablecultural
#80 Cuenca Ecuador
58/100
$2,000/mo · eternal spring
colonial-townwalkablemountain
#81 Palermo Italy
58/100
$2,471/mo · mediterranean
big-citycoastalcultural
#82 Thessaloniki Greece
58/100
$2,573/mo · mediterranean
big-citycoastalcultural
#83 Dubrovnik Croatia
58/100
$3,162/mo · mediterranean
coastalhistoricwalkable
#84 San Sebastián Spain
57/100
$4,229/mo · four seasons · over budget
coastalbeachcultural
#85 Bologna Italy
57/100
$3,261/mo · four seasons
big-citywalkablecultural
#86 Bordeaux France
57/100
$4,229/mo · four seasons · over budget
wine-countrywalkablecultural
#87 Vilcabamba Ecuador
57/100
$1,500/mo · eternal spring
mountainvillagerural
#88 Setúbal Portugal
56/100
$2,855/mo · mediterranean
coastalbeachworking-town
#89 Tbilisi Georgia
56/100
$1,732/mo · four seasons
big-cityculturalhistoric
#90 Florence Italy
55/100
$3,728/mo · mediterranean · over budget
colonial-townwalkablecultural
#91 Lucca Italy
55/100
$3,728/mo · mediterranean · over budget
colonial-townwalkablecultural
#92 Buenos Aires Argentina
55/100
$3,200/mo · four seasons
big-cityculturalwalkable
#93 Bari Italy
55/100
$2,471/mo · mediterranean
coastalbig-cityhistoric
#94 Pau France
55/100
$3,162/mo · four seasons
mountain-townwalkablehistoric
#95 Nafplio Greece
55/100
$2,573/mo · mediterranean
small-towncoastalwalkable
#96 Montpellier France
54/100
$3,360/mo · mediterranean · over budget
mediterraneanwalkablecultural
#97 Kotor Montenegro
54/100
$2,177/mo · mediterranean
coastalhistoricscenic
#98 Plovdiv Bulgaria
53/100
$1,871/mo · four seasons
culturalhistoricwalkable
#99 Puebla Mexico
52/100
$1,973/mo · eternal spring
colonial-townwalkablecultural
#100 Marrakech Morocco
52/100
$2,481/mo · arid
exotichistoriccultural
#101 Cagliari Italy
52/100
$2,672/mo · mediterranean
coastalbeachrelaxed
#102 Lecce Italy
51/100
$2,273/mo · mediterranean
colonial-townculturalwalkable
#103 Cusco Peru
50/100
$1,898/mo · eternal spring
mountaincolonial-townhistoric
#104 Punta del Este Uruguay
49/100
$3,790/mo · four seasons · over budget
beachupscaleresort
#105 Colonia del Sacramento Uruguay
49/100
$2,592/mo · four seasons
colonial-townsmall-townwalkable
#106 Montevideo Uruguay
47/100
$2,992/mo · four seasons
big-citywalkablecultural
#107 Mendoza Argentina
47/100
$2,400/mo · arid
wine-countrysmall-citynature
#108 Sarandë Albania
47/100
$1,931/mo · mediterranean
beachcoastalmediterranean
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