Oxford has been selected as a top retirement destination by “Where to Retire,” the only magazine in America geared toward helping people with retirement relocation decisions. The city is profiled in the January/February 2020 issue, available nationwide now.

“Where to Retire” Editor Annette Fuller said Oxford possesses qualities important to today’s retirees.

“Greatness gathers in Oxford, from Ole Miss football to famous authors to restaurants touting James Beard Award-winning chefs,” Fuller said.

“Galleries, eateries and an 1872 courthouse dot downtown’s Oxford Square, which also hosts a homegrown radio show. Area forests, lakes and golf courses provide outdoor activities and the town’s calendar is full of festivals as well as exhibitions and cultural events on the University of Mississippi campus. One must-see is the hubbub on Ole Miss game days when alumni, students and guests cheer together.

Rosie Vassallo serves as the Retiree Attraction Program Director at the Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce. She said she and others at the Chamber love showing Oxford off to potential retiree settlers.

“New residents are constantly singing our praises to their friends and family which is a huge testament to our community. Oxford has been highlighted in over 90 different news commentaries, publications, and websites as one of the top retirement destinations in the country with an outstanding quality of life,” Vassallo said.

Vassallo said she only hopes to grow the retiree base, and thanks to the great partnership the Chamber has with Ole Miss, Oxford and Lafayette County have a lot to offer.

“Since the Retiree Attraction Program’s inception in 1993, the Oxford-Lafayette County Economic Development Foundation, Inc. has been successful in attracting retiree households from across the country that now enjoy a cost of living well below the national average and tax abatements that make retirement in Oxford extremely attractive and affordable,” she said.

“We never made friends faster than we did here,” one retiree reported in the magazine. “This town is full of people like us.”

According to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 700,000 Americans relocate to new towns in retirement each year.

Florida continues to reign as the No. 1 destination for retirement relocation, followed by Arizona, South Carolina and North Carolina. The most popular region is the Southeast, claiming eight of the 17 states showing increases in total net retiree migration. This research and the latest census data is detailed in “Where to Retire’s” four-part series on retirement relocation.

About “Where to Retire”

As the authority on retirement relocation since 1992, “Where to Retire” has covered hundreds of the best retirement regions, towns and master-planned communities. The magazine is published six times a year and has a national circulation of 200,000. The July/August issue also includes the magazine’s most popular feature story — the 11th edition of the “50 Best Master-Planned Communities in the U.S.” (View a complete list of the 50 Best online.) Where to Retire editors recently released the sixth edition of the book “America’s 100 Best Places to Retire.”

Request a free trial issue at WhereToRetire.com.

Hottytoddy.com Staff Report