Castro Valley Makes List Of Top CA Retiree Destinations

CASTRO VALLEY, CA — Castro Valley grabbed a top 30 spot in a ranking of California's best retirement destinations, landing at number 27 in the rankings.

A financial services website factored quality of life, health care and available activities as the three criteria used to evaluate 260 cities and towns. Wallethub.com published the rankings Wednesday.

Castro Valley did especially well in the quality of life category which takes into account:

• Adjusted Cost of Living
• Share of Population Aged 65 & Older
• Share of Households with Severe Housing Problems
• Discount Stores per Capita
• Elderly-Friendliness of Labor Market
• Violent-Crime Rate
• Property-Crime Rate
• Air Quality: Double Weight
• Drinking-Water Violations

All of the top nine cities listed are in the Bay Area. No. 10 Yorba Linda is the only Southern California city to crack the top 10 —

1. Los Gatos
2. Los Altos
3. San Ramon
4. Walnut Creek
5. Saratoga
6. Novato
7. Danville
8. Palo Alto
9. Oakley
10. Yorba Linda

Other East Bay cities to make the list include Pleasanton at number 12, Martinez at number 22, Livermore right behind at 23, followed by Union City at 24, and Dublin squeezed in at 29.

The rankings were not kind to the Central Valley. Modesto was ranked the state's worst retirement destination. It was among eight Central Valley cities that made the state's top 10 cities retirees should avoid.

See the full methodology for the rankings at Wallet Hub

— Patch editors Gideon Rubin and Bea Karnes contributed to this story