35 Affordable Waterfront Retirement Towns

UPDATED August, 2024, plus five bonus towns added at the end! Want to retire near the water? Doing so is a lifelong dream for many people. So when retirement time arrives, moving to a lakeside town, riverfront hamlet or seaside community is a natural inclination. The trick is to find a place to retire near the water that is reasonably priced.
Here we have 35 towns (plus seven bonus towns) that sit next to a lake, have a lake within their boundaries, or are along a river or a seacoast. They have a cost of living that is close to the national average or below the national average, primarily determined by housing prices.
We also look at population, climate, home prices, percentage of residents age 45 or better, medical facilities, public transportation, crime rates, political leanings and more. No place is perfect, however, so we point out each town's potential drawbacks. Reviews are short and to the point for quick reading.