Retired and flirty: 2 Arizona cities are top places for single retirees

Single and retired? Phoenix may be the place for you.

A new study from Asset Preservation Wealth & Tax ranked Phoenix among the best cities for retired folks who are looking to get back out on the dating scene. To determine the best cities for single seniors seeking a new lease on love, the investment advisory service looked at cities with the largest senior populations across 14 categories.

However, these aren’t your typical stats on city living. Instead, the company focused on the factors of cities that matter to single seniors: proximity to cruise lines, the number of golf courses, pickleball courts and casinos, to name a few.

Tucson, where 16% of the population is retirement age, received an excellent score in six categories, including for safety. Phoenix rated excellent in seven of them. While Phoenix’s land-locked nature prevents it from excelling in the cruise ship category, the Valley of the Sun is otherwise filled with features that cater to seniors, who make up 12% of the population.

To say that Phoenix is a golfer’s paradise would be an understatement. There are nearly 200 courses throughout the Valley, providing seniors with plenty of locations to hit the links. That number gets even higher if you consider the whole state, which the study does — Arizona has more than 370 golf courses. Phoenix and Scottsdale are the most golf-rich cities.

A cross between tennis and ping pong, pickleball also has been increasingly popular with seniors in Phoenix and across the country. Parks such as the Encanto Sports Complex and Paseo Highlands Pickleball Courts now provide more options for pickleballers. As of 2023, the city of Phoenix had 44 public outdoor courts and 24 indoor ones.

The Valley has been leaning into pickleball, including with bad puns. Mesa hosts tournaments at a 41-court facility, the Picklemall. Pickleball restaurants such as Chicken N Pickle and Electric Pickle opened in Tempe and Glendale.

The study also highlighted theaters, museums and casinos for amorous seniors.

Downtown Phoenix has plenty of theater and entertainment venues, such as the newly renovated Orpheum Theatre, the Herberger Theater Center and the Arizona Financial Theatre. Tempe’s Gammage Theater at Arizona State University is a Valley favorite. The area also has a host of museums, from the Phoenix Art Museum to the Heard Museum to even the Desert Botanical Gardens and Phoenix Zoo.

Phoenix seniors can also get their love-hungry hearts racing by gambling. Native land surrounding the Valley provides numerous casino options, including Talking Stick Resort Hotel and Casino Arizona, two Gila River Resorts & Casinos locations and the Desert Diamond Casino.

Phoenix also rated well in terms of health care. Downtown Phoenix hosts Banner’s University Medical Center, which is still lovingly called “Good Sam” by longtime residents. St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center and the Mayo Clinic also serve many residents.