TAMPA TIMES - Orlando and Tampa pulled the equivalent of a gold and silver in financial planner website WalletHub's annual ranking for the best places in the country to retire.

Orlando ranked tops among 150 metros ranked and Tampa was second, with both aided by the combination of a less expensive cost of living and a wide range of recreational offerings.

Florida fared well overall, notching four of the top seven spots. In addition to Tampa and Orlando, Miami ranked fourth and Cape Coral seventh. St. Petersburg ranked 21st.

WalletHub's analysts compared affordability, quality of life, health care and availability of recreational activities. Its 31 key metrics ranged from "cost of living" to "public-hospital rankings" to "percentage of the 65 and older population."

The best marks for Tampa came in affordability (No. 3), activities (No. 17) and quality of life (No. 18) while Orlando's top scores were in activities (No. 6), affordability (No. 7) and health care (No. 11).

Here is the complete report.

WRITTEN BY: Jeff Harrington, Times Staff Writer

JEFF HARRINGTONTampa BPublished on Monday, August 15, 2016