Washington, D.C. is the third best city — out of 302 — for the country’s senior population, according to the 2019 Senior Living Report issued by Caring.com, a Charlotte-based senior care resources company.
The city topped the list both for “opportunity for civic involvement” and “access to exercise opportunities,” while it ranked fifth for “access to jobs by transit,” and 10th for both “dentists for every 100,000 people” and “health care professional shortage areas.”
In order to rank the best and worst places for seniors to live, Caring.com’s researchers graded every U.S. state across six different categories — health care, senior living & housing, community involvement, transportation, quality of life, affordability — using 70 individual metrics.
The report revealed that San Francisco, CA, is the most senior-friendly city, which is followed by Fredericksburg, VA, Washington, D.C., Boston, MA, and Brooklyn, NY, respectively.
In terms of state ranking, D.C ranked first overall, as well as for health care, senior living and housing, community involvement, transportation, quality of life and affordability.
D.C. has 113 “primary care physicians for every 100,000 people,” which is above the national average of 82. However, “patient satisfaction” (58 percent) is less than the national average (72 percent).
As for the housing costs, the District is a little over the U.S. average ($1,375) with $1,664 per month. It also ranked number seven among other cities in “senior living and housing.”
The D.C. area has 142 senior living options, with 52 in Washington and 90 nearby, according to the report. With an average monthly cost of $4,481, Alexandria is among cheaper alternatives that are close by.
Both the average cost of assisted living ($5,941) and the average cost of independent living ($4,362) are above the national average ($4,000 and $2,677, respectively), as well as the average cost of memory care ($7,758), which costs $4,876 on average nationally.
By 2035, seniors will be outnumbering children, according to census data, which makes it essential for the U.S. to improve living standards for senior people, the report noted.