Here Are the Best Beach Towns To Live In Right Now

At this point in life, after everything from this past year, we could all use a vacation or a change of scenery. Unfortunately, we’ve had to juggle a lot due to the pandemic, and now that the world is slowly able to return to normalcy, we deserve to find ways to make our dreams come true. And for a lot of people, living by the water with beaches only a few steps away and the towns that feel like all the best parts of a vacation is a dream come true. So if that’s something your heart is set on, here are the best beach towns to live in right now.

According to WalletHub, a lot of people have a dream to live near the water. And what better time than now to do what’s going to make us happy? “Many people don’t just want the beach experience for a week or two, though – they long to live on the waterfront,” WalletHub says. “After all, beachside communities often represent a relaxed and luxurious way of life.”

And with that in mind, they set out to find out which towns are the best to live where having a water or beach view is affordable, fun, and everything they ever wanted. First, WalletHub compared 191 cities across the most popular coastline towns across 62 indicators they determined were key for livability, including affordability, quality of life, education and health, economy, safety, and weather. The data sample includes “all cities with populations between 10,000 and 150,000 and at least one beach listed on TripAdvisor.” They then determined each city’s weighted average and calculated a total score used to determine the rank-order, separating cities near lakes and cities near oceans.

Source: WalletHub

The 5 Best Beach Towns On The Lake To Live In:

1. Traverse City, MI., total score of 65.84 out of a possible 100.
2. Folsom, CA., with a total score of 64.97
3. Redmond, WA., with a total score of 63.23
4. Mercer Island, WA., with a total score of 60.68
5. Cornelius, NC., with a total score of 60.53

Source: WalletHub

The 5 Best Beach Towns On The Ocean To Live In:

1. Naples, FL., with a total score of 64.86
2. Laguna Beach, CA., with a total score of 63.63
3. Lahaina, HI., with a total score of 63.35
4. Newport Beach, CA., with a total score of 63.09
5. North Myrtle Beach, SC., with a total score of 62.93

Looking further into the results, Mount Sinai, NY., has the lowest housing cost for beach living near the ocean. In contrast, Santa Barbara, CA., has the highest. For lakes, Bay Village, OH., has the lowest housing cost while Burlington, VT., has the highest housing costs.

We all deserve to reach for our dreams, especially so after getting through this past year. So if living near water will fill you with happiness, do your research to find the lake or ocean – and the town – that will work best for you. And go live out your dreams.