Awards

For two years now, On Top of the World has consistently been the highest seller and most popular community on 55places.com. Besides sales and pageviews, we considered each community's placements on our previous 2020 awards as well as any improvements or renovations made in the community this year.

As we near our 2020 verdict, now is a good time to look at the past six COTY winners. These stellar communities offer the best of everything; they are the kinds of places that meet--and exceed--the needs of today's active adults. You'll be pleased to discover that these winners also have homes that are surprisingly affordable.

To guide your search for the country's best 55+ communities with brand-new homes, we compiled a list of the 10 best new communities in 2020. These five communities finished just outside the top 10 for this award but earned an honorable mention. Here's what they have to offer potential homebuyers.

Besides just newer homes, new 55+ communities also give homeowners a chance to shape the lifestyle they desire in their community. This year, we compiled our most competitive list yet, with several communities missing the cut that would have made it in previous years. Let's take a look at 2020's best new communities.

Snowbirds often leave family and friends for extended periods, putting them in some danger of isolation. 55+ communities reduce that danger drastically by creating a built-in social network of neighbors, friends, and hobbyists eager to meet new people. Here are the 25 most affordable communities for snowbirds this winter.

Whichever way you want to snowbird, you probably want to do it affordably. To help you out, 55places decided to look at the most popular snowbirding states, including Florida, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Georgia, South and North Carolina, and the Gulf of Mexico states like Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana.

To find the best value communities, we looked at age-restricted and active lifestyle communities across the country to find out their home prices, state taxes, and cost of living. We compared this information to the amenities on offer, lifestyle options, home styles, and more. Here are the 25 best value communities of 2020.

Every year, 55places compares 55+ communities across the country to find which ones are the very best. After digging into the details and comparing the best of the best, here are North and South Carolina's 10 best 55+ communities of 2020.

With breathtaking beaches, a consistently warm climate, and affordable living, Florida remains the top retirement state in the U.S. year after year. If you're looking to narrow down the options, you might be interested in taking a look at our 2020 list of Florida's best 55+ communities.

The numbers are in for Arizona's 10 best 55+ communities of 2020. 55places took into account the number of homes sold in the last 12 months, the variety of home styles, the community facilities, how active the clubs and classes are, what the surrounding area offers, and data from Gallup's Wellbeing Index.