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Is cost of living cheap? Does it have good hospitals and services for people over 55 years old. Property taxes low? Does it have a wheel tax on vehicles? Cost of license plates every year and etc?
I say it's a good place to retire. It has retirement communities of that is your thing. Good hospitals and medical facilities. Property taxes are very low compared to some areas. "Wheel" tax, yes, included with plate fee. Not much for fancy stores or dining but we do have Publix supermarkets! Winters are mild. Summer a brutal but everyone has AC.
Overall tax burden in NC is historically right in the middle range of the 50 states. https://wallethub.com/edu/t/states-w...-burden/20494/
We do have an annual property tax on vehicles.
You can probably retire in cheaper places if that is your primary concern.
We've been in Cary for 22 years. It is a very easy place to live, like many other towns in the Triangle and has easy access to plenty to do.
We will retire here when it is time.
We like the medical care here, and the fact that it is not Florida or Arizona....
So I see another thread you started in the retirement forum about retiring to a working class town. You realize that Cary is the opposite of that, right? And that Cary is pretty expensive? There is a ton of factual data available about demographics right here on C-D. Everything is relative -- one man's "low" taxes is another man's "high."
This area is probably quite a good place to retire, as described above.
However, I'd suggest you look outside the actual city limits. The town of Cary is really the upper-middle class subburb, and the real-estate values and city taxes are accordingly high.
I assume as someone retired, you're not too concerned about commute distance, then try Apex and Morrisville (the areas still within Wake County, but outside Raleigh and Cary city limits. These areas would have similar drive-times to events around the Triangle, so you still have the near-city life advantages.
So I see another thread you started in the retirement forum about retiring to a working class town. You realize that Cary is the opposite of that, right? And that Cary is pretty expensive? There is a ton of factual data available about demographics right here on C-D. Everything is relative -- one man's "low" taxes is another man's "high."
Also, the vibe in Cary will be nothing at all like TN. It’s a left leaning moderate type of place. Fuquay might be a better fit for someone coming from TN.
I can add this: we moved from phoenix metro to brief creek in 2012. Our property tax doubled on a similarly assessed home. Our income tax is higher. Medical care is better. Food is a bit more expensive. Alcohol and restaurants are more expensive (no happy hours allowed and stare stores have a monopoly on sales of spirits.) Utilities are higher.
Still we're very happy here. But moving looking or a cheap COL might be a fiscal mistake.
Per prior posts by OP they are living in Bethesda MD and want to get out of the rat-race there.
Quote: "But in retirement, we could get twice the home at nearly half the price if we moved to a "working class" community outside the Washington Metro Area"
I don't think Cary has ever been a 'working class community' ..... especially these days. I guess it depends on a person's definition of 'working class' ...... a basically high tech area like the triangle sure doesn't meet my definition.
Perhaps some people are just learning of the Triangle-North Carolina's desirability and still consider it a rural working/farming/textile community.
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