Here are my #76 through 80 rankings. (See picture below.)
Rank Score City Sample House
76 59.74 Key West, FL
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-02207?view=qv
77 59.25 Vancouver, BC Canada
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5...80763261_zpid/
78 57.34 Juneau AK
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-90114?view=qv
79 56.58 Deadwood SD
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-48844?view=qv
80 54.81 Sitka AK
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-23661?view=qv
Summary:
Sitka’s an odd place. Less snow than Denver, but lots of rain and there’s not really a summer even though it’s pretty far south. Not a lot of sunshine, though that's not a big deal for me. It’s affordable and interesting, but the climate and housing market don’t match our vision. It’s high humidity as well, though that’s probably an unfair penalty in that climate. I think humidity is tougher when it's hot.
Deadwood – I thought this place would rank much higher. It’s very affordable and would cut two years from my work career to live there. However, it gets a lot of snow and there’s not much in the way of single-story homes. There’s a nice summer climate, though. I’m surprised it doesn’t have a higher score, but it's just got enough negatives to get dragged down a lot.
Juneau – Basically the same as Sitka but with much more snow and less rain. The housing markets here are uninspiring, and Alaska continues to get pummeled by my wife's desire to not have snow.
Vancouver – This is really kind of a guess since I didn’t do any tax analysis. It’s got good housing options and a nice metro area for culture, but the summers are surprisingly cool and we still get snow. High humidity being on the coast, but that’s not unexpected.
Key West – It’s surprisingly cost-competitive given the very high-demand market, in part because of Florida’s tax structure. My savings will go just as far there as it will staying in Denver, which is intriguing. It’s kind of tropical and is going to be warm and humid in the summer. The big problem here is that you can’t buy much for under $500,000. You can get a 1,400 square foot condo at best. It’s also a small and isolated community so I penalize it for that, but that’s probably unfair in some respects. As a tourist destination it’s going to have a lot of stuff to do.