Orlando: Best Food Town For Retirees

When food lovers think of retirement, chances are they are going to want to retire in a town that has a lively food and restaurant scene.

To develop our list for the best food towns to retire in, we considered both the financial aspects of a place and the culinary scene. For finances, we thought about cost of living, manageable tax burden, and average home cost collected by publications like Forbes and CBS News, who sifted through data from the National Association of Realtors, Trulia.com, and Zillow Home Value Index. As for the culinary aspect of life, we considered the city's restaurant scene, chef visibility, and overall food affordability as ranked byWalletHub.com.

And of course, Florida ranked number one on our list.

Orlando was rated the most economical city for food lovers according to WalletHub. There is an impressive ratio of gourmet stores, supermarkets, and restaurants per person (one for every 90 residents). The diverse tourist community that visits Orlando monthly means that the food here has to be of good value, too. It's not all Disney-themed. There are 10 James Beard finalists who make Orlando their home base. The culinary foundation even made its 2014 nominee announcement from Orlando because it considers Orlando to be "one of Florida's burgeoning culinary hubs." As for the financial aspect, the cost of living is low, home prices are affordable, and there is no state income tax. The weather is pretty close to perfect year-round, hence the growing number of farmers markets that contribute to the area's locavore food movement.

Additional reporting by Emily Alford.