13 Great Places to Retire in the Pacific Northwest
Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
Updated June 10, 2023 — These 13 great places to retire in the Pacific Northwest could convince anyone any that they make for the best places to retire. We happen to agree, and have many friends who are enjoying their retirement lifestyle in this growing region. For the purposes of this article we have a loose interpretation of that Pacific Northwest geography: including here the States of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana, along with Canada’s British Columbia.
A great retirement gift!
13 Great Places to Retire in the Pacific Northwest
Sequim, WA. Sequim is popular both with retirees and people looking for second homes. Pronounced (skwim), this growing town of about 6,600 (with 20,000 more in the area) gets its name because pilots kept noticing that because it is in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, there were almost always blue skies over the area. At about 14? of rainfall per year, Sequim almost qualifies as a desert.
Bend, OR. Bend offers great scenic beauty, skiing, mountains, golf, fishing, and more. It makes just about every list of “best places to retire” and is growing rapidly.
Victoria – British Columbia, Canada. Victoria has a very British feel to it. There are classic old buildings, cobblestone alleys, artisans, and world class shopping. Butchart Gardens is one of the most visited gardens in the world. There is a fantastic mild climate. Many nice little towns on the coast around Victoria would make for great places to retire.
Eugene, OR . Eugene enjoys a national reputation as one of the most livable cities in the country. As a retirement community it offers small town charm combined with big city sparkle. It has a thriving and eclectic arts scene along with unsurpassed natural beauty. It is home to the University of Oregon, so it is a college town.
Bozeman, MT. Home to Montana State University, this rapidly growing town is located in the Gallatin Valley and surrounded by mountains on all sides. There is a vibrant downtown with a busy new library and great outdoor stores. Restaurants are full and people are on the street at 9PM.
Whitefish, MT. It is hard to picture a more beautiful place, or one with more to do, than Whitefish. There is beautiful Whitefish Lake, nearby Big Mountain Ski area, and mountains everywhere. Topretirements has several friends who live here and they love it.
Boise City, ID “The city of Trees” is a modern, prosperous, and livable city that offers many recreational activities and a great lifestyle.
Bellingham, WA. If there was ever a town with momentum it is Bellingham Washington. Kiplinger’s called Bellingham one of the top retirement communities in the U.S. It boasts unbelievable natural scenery from Puget Sound on the west and Mount Baker to the east.
Brookings, OR. Located at the foot of the Klamath mountains on the southern Oregon coast, Brookings is a small outdoorsy town. Once a logging community, Brookings is a now cute seaside town with over fifteen miles of pristine beaches and unusually warm weather year round. Wet and mild winters makes this town incredibly lush; palm trees and bright gardens dominate a lovely color palette.
Port Townsend, WA. Located on the extreme northeastern tip of the Olympic Peninsula, just across Puget Sound from Seattle. Port Townsend was a thriving port settlement before Seattle was founded – unfortunately, the Union Pacific Railroad bypassed it, sending the thriving community into an economic tailspin. Like Eureka (CA), this resulted in a large number of beautiful Victorian buildings that were never touched by urban renewal.
Medford, OR sits in the Rogue Valley, which tends to be drier and hotter than other regions of Oregon. Klamath Falls and Grants Pass are nearby towns. Downtown Medford is a vital place and features a restored Ginger Rogers Craterian Theatre and many restored buildings. The mail order fruit company Harry and David are based in Medford.
Walla Walla, WA. This town in eastern Washington has been transformed into a wine and food destination by the many vineyards in the area. Whitman College, a famous and distinguished liberal arts college, has its campus here. The streets are very wide and many of the homes quite beautiful.
Bandon, OR. If you are a golfer you have probably heard of Bandon. Its collection of links courses rival anything in Scotland or Ireland, with views of the Pacific Ocean from almost every hole. There are great beaches and a very cute town as well.
Bottom line – 13 Great Places to Retire in the Pacific Northwest
There are certainly many fabulous places to retire in the West. Like its climate, the politics of the region can be quite different. The western part of the region’s climate tends to be very wet and the politics liberal, while the further east you go the climate dries out and politics become very conservative. Alongside these geographical and political contrasts, retirees are increasingly looking for safe and enjoyable ways to spend their time online. For instance, some have found that exploring trusted casinos in Malaysia offers an engaging pastime, combining entertainment with the potential for financial rewards. Everywhere in the area seems to be beautiful, and the outdoors offers constant attractions. We hope you enjoy these 13 great places to retire in the Pacific Northwest.
For further reading:
- 20 Best Places to Retire in the West
- Surprises Galore: Best Places to Retire in the West
- Dueling Retirement States: The Pacific Northwest
Comments? Please share your thoughts about these towns in the Comments section below. Are there some towns we should have included?
Comments on "13 Great Places to Retire in the Pacific Northwest"
P Eldridge says:
Admin - thank you for this! I really appreciate your response to comments about last week's interesting feature article! I was in Bend, OR, about two months ago and can say it is a very attractive and active city!
Leffs Depaeth says:
Considering how hot and hotter Oregon is getting, I wouldn't rush to relocate! It's currently 95-100+ degrees in Eugene, Medford and central valley this time of year! I won't be surprise if the wine Vinyards move to Alaska!
RichPB says:
I think one of the primary drivers of retirement location selection is climate. I agree that the Pacific NW is beautiful and has much to offer -- for a visit at optimal times of the year. But it's still the "north" and still suffers from cold and dismally overcast days -- or both. Warmth and typically bright, sunny days will make the decision for many. I'm one of those.
Sharon L Alexander says:
Thankfully, there is something for everyone. I love Western Washington although I didn't grow up here. But like a lot of places, the climate has changed. In the 60's, if we got to 80 we were having a heat wave. We are now going into our 5th day of mid 90's and hoping it will quit soon so we can get back to what we love. We Americans should be happy we have so many places to choose from that are within our own country. Hope you all find what you love too.
Sharon
Beebs says:
I also am from Western Washington and I was born here. Lived here all my life and can't imagine living anywhere else. The weather has definitely changed over the years. Hotter in the last few years. But we don't get any Tornadoes or Hurricanes and not too much snow or ice. I like it here because I can walk year round.
Admin says:
My wife and I absolutely love Medford. Visited it a few times. We were planning on retiring there. However, the wildfires scared us away. We will definitely go back and visit.
Admin says:
Wildfires didn't seem to be such a big concern until recently. But I can understand how they could influence a decision about where to retire. Good luck, and keep us posted on where you retire.
Tony says:
The Northwest is the most beautiful place in the US if you love evergreen scenery, I’ve traveled through the area briefly three times since 1980, but haven’t been back since1992. I’m sure it has changed in many ways, but I will need to visit again to see for myself… I was surprised recently to read that average real estate prices in Oregon and Washington now exceed prices in California-that’s saying something! Of course, the usual suspect is low supply and high demand, especially low supply.
Admin says:
One feature of the remodeled Topretirements is the ability for people to add comments to our city reviews. It is proving to be popular, and some of the comments are of broad interest. Others offer suggestions and corrections on various sections of the reviews. We encourage you to contribute too! We are working on adding links to these comments and responses to the Daily Alert.
RAF says:
Whatever happened to the Top Retirements fix to bring users to the bottom of the page where the comments are? Especially if you've read an article several times.
Daryl says:
John, most of the time I can’t access the article from the daily alerts link anymore since the remodel—the page is instantly overwritten with a google links ad. Even if you choose to “send feedback” that the “ad covers content”. It just took ten attempts to get here. Is this happening to anyone else?
Daryl says:
(Problem from the “replies to blog posts” link, not the article link itself)
John Brady says:
In response to RAF and Daryl. Very occasionally the link seems to go to the top of the article and not the most recent comment. Not sure why but we will look at it. The google ads problem is affecting a lot of people sometimes and it is annoying. We changed things so those ads should NOT show up , but occasionally they do. We may remove google ads from the blog entirely as a result. They have been an important source of support for this free site, but lately more trouble than they are worth. We will have find another way to pay the bills!
RAF says:
Might the problem be related to the anti-crawler screen that pops up when it is redirecting to the site?
Admin says:
It isn’t the anti spam message which is causing people to see Google ads or default to top of article. We had to put that screen up to protect the site from hackers. You can just ignore it because after a few seconds that screen just goes away.
Admin says:
Lori corrected a typo in our review of Eugene, OR. It is great that members of the community are helping make this a better site. Eugene sounds like a great place to retire – do you have experience here?
Tom says:
We've lived in Seattle/Tacoma area for 20 years and while the PNW is beautiful in the short summer months, you have 7-8 months of gray and rain and cold. We just can't deal with that anymore and looking for a warmer drier place to retire to in the western usa that isn't a desert and isn't run by progressive liberals. Having a hard time finding the right place. We sort of like Boise but its got bitter cold winters.
Clyde says:
To Tom: almost all urban cities/metros in the sunnier and warmer southwest are typically liberal. If you are OK with smaller places that might fit your needs, Prescott, AZ, may be a consideration. Not in the desert like south Arizona, nice climate (cold in winter, but not like Boise) and the county Prescott is in voted 64% for Trump in 2020. Many retirees.
"The Old Boy" says:
Live presently in Western Canada. Lived in the U.S. Grew up & lived in Ontario & will go back there; somewhere around Niagara where I can cross the River to the U.S. & head South where it is known to be Warm in the Winter. And can have a few Laffs!! [Maybe a few Beers as well!!]