It is on my short list for final retirement location. Everything looks good on paper, anyone have personal knowledge?


Looking for all four seasons without overly harsh winter or summer, conservative beliefs, lower crime area, affordable and just overall “comfortable” living.

I grew up about 70 miles east of there so I can't comment on Rogersville directly. The area in southern MO is quite beautiful and natural. Not far from springfield and the lakes areas. It has been a long time since I was in the region but I doubt much has changed. Friendly people and the more rural the more hillbilly.

4 seasons for sure. Spring has some HEAVY thunderstorms. Tornadoes always a possibility but not common. Summers around June-August can be brutually hot & humid. Autumn can be quite lovely and winters can vary with heavy snow at times with ice storms. But with 4 seasons nothing lasts that long.

Typically conservative even in Springfield (at least 35 years ago).

Good luck and such.

Last I looked its an area you can get a lot of bang for your buck.
It's at the doorstep of the Ozarks which opens up a lot of opportunities for outdoor recreation. The one down side of that general area is the it seems to have more than their fair share of Meth Billys.
A buddy of mine is about an hour South in Bella Vista, AR. I think the general environment and services needed in retirement would be a bit better down that way.
ETA: My observations are from several motorcycle trips through the area and visiting relatives and friends in Springfield and Bella Vista.

I can’t comment specifically on Rogersville but I have been to that area numerous times - I live NE of there. As a former resident of Seattle, I can say that the area is just as beautiful as the PNW, just in a different way. You’ll like the people a lot better too…

MO. Wife was there recently. Bugs, snakes, humidity, storms, stickers and thorns everywhere. Enjoy.

Why Rogersville? I had to look it up on a map and I'm from Missouri. I've only been to Springfield maybe half a dozen times in my life. That part of Missouri is much more Arkansas/deep south feeling than what you would expect in Missouri. I grew up along the Missouri River west of St. Louis and hope to return there in my twilight years.

From my memory, you are not going to get alot of snow or very cold winters in Rogersville, MO, but you will get plenty of the heat and humidity for sure.

quote:

Originally posted by Scuba Steve Sig:
That part of Missouri is much more Arkansas/deep south feeling than what you would expect in Missouri.

Yep. I've always said that the southern quarter or so of Missouri is part of the South, while the rest is the Midwest.

You’ll have two medical centers close by in Springfield, tons of lake/fishing/outdoor activities nearby. Small town feel and 4 distinct seasons, but the winter is not what they used to be. Conservative area. What’s not to like?

quote:

Originally posted by Powers77:
… The one down side of that general area is the it seems to have more than their fair share of Meth Billys.

Being from the general Seattle/Everett area, I’ve seen my share of the drug abusers/sidewalk poopers. I can’t image they are too plentiful given the general population of the area compared to what I am used to. Seeing less than 10-15/day would be an improvement.

quote:

Originally posted by Scuba Steve Sig:
Why Rogersville? I had to look it up on a map and I'm from Missouri. I've only been to Springfield maybe half a dozen times in my life. That part of Missouri is much more Arkansas/deep south feeling than what you would expect in Missouri. I grew up along the Missouri River west of St. Louis and hope to return there in my twilight years.

From my memory, you are not going to get alot of snow or very cold winters in Rogersville, MO, but you will get plenty of the heat and humidity for sure.

Primary criteria, in order:
CONSERVATIVE AREA IN A CONSERVATIVE STATE - We are so disgusted at what has become of WA state as a result just three counties surrounding Seattle. Was really holding out hope that my former boss Dave Reichert would be elected governor, but all hope is lost at this point.

Housing prices/Cost of living - We are at a point where we wish to be “comfortable”. We paid $300K for a modest house 10 years ago. 2000sqFt, 10K sqFt lot. It has more than doubled in value and our annual property tax bill is now north of $3500/yr.

In Rogersville, $450K will get you 3000 sqFt, newer construction, beautiful inside and out on a full acre. It’s amazing the difference what your dollar buys.

Our budget staying in WA would only allow for occasional travel (every 2-3 years). Getting to an area with lower costs/taxes/etc would allow us to travel every year.

Four Seasons weather - we are used to a pretty mild climate and want to avoid extremes of winter and summer. Frequent long-term below freezing or triple digit periods are a no-go. We really like the Davenport IA area where our daughter lives, but no way would we want to deal with their winters.

Seattle metro area has the least amount (as a percentage) of air conditioned homes in the entire country. Our climate here really makes them a rarely needed luxury. Anywhere we end up, we will have AC so not terribly concerned about heat/humidity. We don’t do a lot of outdoor stuff other than cycling (me much more than my wife) so the increased heat/humidity should be OK.



Been casually researching for the past couple years and the Springfield area came up on some search I did for retirement cities. Looking at Zillow, Rogersville seems to give a lot of bang for the buck when it comes to houses. We would prefer a smaller town area but with conveniences of a larger area nearby (such as Springfield) and that seems to fit. Another area on the list is Ft. Gibson OK outside Tulsa.

Not sure if watching how the local PD handle calls on “COPS” is an effective way to help decide, but Greene Co. MO Sheriff don’t seem to tolerate the crap like the agencies in WA.

”Why you runnin’? This is Greene County, we gonna catch you!” (Rogersville is in Greene County.)

quote:

Originally posted by Dzozer:
I can’t comment specifically on Rogersville but I have been to that area numerous times - I live NE of there. As a former resident of Seattle, I can say that the area is just as beautiful as the PNW, just in a different way. You’ll like the people a lot better too…

That’s good to hear. One concern is giving up the beauty of the area. I can’t do flat, went mental for the year I spent at Millington TN. Need to have some rolling hills at a minimum and not be too far from some sort of “woods”.

quote:

Originally posted by ScooterX:
You’ll have two medical centers close by in Springfield, tons of lake/fishing/outdoor activities nearby. Small town feel and 4 distinct seasons, but the winter is not what they used to be. Conservative area. What’s not to like?

Curious what you mean by “winter is not what it used to be”? I don’t mind snow (within reason) and my understanding is areas that get snow on a regular basis seem to handle it a lot better than the greater Seattle area where the mere forecast of a measurable snowfall paralyzes the area and causes a run on the grocery stores.

Not having to deal with the hills like we have here helps as well I imagine.

I've never been that enamored by Springfield, MO, but I only visited it half a dozen times in my life. It doesn't get much more Red than Missouri and you could drop a pin anywhere on a map that isn't St. Louis, Kansas City, or Columbia and end up in a Red County. I don't have anything bad to say about Rogersville though as I've never been there.

You're not going to get much snow that far south in Missouri, you'll have a better chance of ice. Growing up outside of St. Louis, going to law school in Des Moines was a bit of a change in January and February. Comparing Davenport to Rogersville is probably 2.5 standard deviations of winter away with St. Louis being the middle point. It's common to have snow on the ground for a month straight in central to northern Iowa. It always melts within days or a week anywhere in Missouri. My wife is from Clinton County, Iowa. I wouldn't pick Davenport as a place to live in Iowa either, especially if Red is factor. Scott County is pretty Blue. Northeast Iowa is beautiful, Red, and has some of the best deer hunting in Iowa. You're a bit away from any major cities though.

Look at Franklin County, Missouri. Washington, MO in particular. My hometown. Corncob Pipe Capital of the World. Home to Wal-Mart's first Super Center. The 3rd largest fair in Missouri. Relatively cheap cost of living and less than an hour to anywhere in St. Louis.

Runners up: Rural St. Charles County (but that will likely push up your cost criteria); Warren County; Hermann, MO; going down I-55 from St. Louis is pretty Red and has Rogersville similar hills - Jefferson County, etc., the housing costs plummet pretty fast but you start going up a meth slope instead.

quote:

Originally posted by 911Boss:

That’s good to hear. One concern is giving up the beauty of the area. I can’t do flat, went mental for the year I spent at Millington TN. Need to have some rolling hills at a minimum and not be too far from some sort of “woods”.

Start with Table Rock Lake, Dogwood Canyon, Eureka Springs, and Beaver Lake and go from there

I love MO, especially the KC area. Nicest big city on the planet IMO. We own a house there and thought about retiring there. My wife can handle the high humidity and 95 degree temperatures but I don't fare nearly as well. Southern MO appears to be worse for the humidity/temp thing. Being from northern UT, the snow is a joke in MO. The freezing rain is a whole different story. You might want to want to see if you can find a VRBO, rent it for a month in July-Aug-Sept time frame just to put your toe in the water. The reason I say that is that if you buy a place, don't like the climate, selling and moving might be problematic.

911boss, we have friends that moved from a Western state to MO. for some of the same reasons you posted. All I can say is go visit it in the mid to late summer for 30 days. Then make a decision. Otherwise I would be willing to bet $100 in less than 3 years if still there. You won't be overjoyed with the decision. Imho.

Come on over 'boss. We'd love to have you.

quote:

All I can say is go visit it in the mid to late summer for 30 days. Then make a decision.

You can stay put.

quote:

Originally posted by ScooterX:
You’ll have two medical centers close by in Springfield, tons of lake/fishing/outdoor activities nearby. Small town feel and 4 distinct seasons, but the winter is not what they used to be. Conservative area. What’s not to like?


Curious what you mean by “winter is not what it used to be”? I don’t mind snow (within reason) and my understanding is areas that get snow on a regular basis seem to handle it a lot better than the greater Seattle area where the mere forecast of a measurable snowfall paralyzes the area and causes a run on the grocery stores.

Not having to deal with the hills like we have here helps as well I imagine.

I live about 2.5 hours northeast of Rogersville. The winters in Missouri are not as bad as they were 40 or more years ago. Now we may have a 2 day cold spell, versus weeks. Snowfall is maybe 2-3 events for the season and melted within a couple days.
When I was a kid, we had so many snow days they made us go to school on Saturday’s to catch up, finally they shortened the school year.

No worries bionic. While I am grateful for the great people of MO. I won't becoming one of them.

I'd take an Iowa winter over a mid or southern Missouri summer. I second those who say "try it out" around July or August when the Gulf of Mexico is wringing out it's warshcloth (Rs are added in some parts of Missourah) right into the 95 degree oven.

I don’t have anything negative about MO, had distant relatives in Bella Vista, South of Springfield. Yes, that’s AR.

I think the expenses are very reasonable, Summer is hot.

Just to back up some, any relatives or kids you want to be near? I realize they move, one can’t be following them everywhere. I say this because I know several, that ended up later moving back near family, friends, & familiarity. The relatives in Bella Vista are back in MI too.

Could you handle the SE corner of SD then bug out for the worst of Winter every year? That’s my planned tucked away. SD rates very high with retirement metrics, yes, it gets cold in the winter.

For those who never lived in Seattle... I'll take the 2 months of high humidity over 9 months of grey rain and mist! I can say that after being born and raised in Seattle and living there for 43 years, I don't miss it because of the weather here. After being here for 6 months I suddenly realized how nice it was to have the sun shining MOST OF THE TIME! A 180 from the first part of my life... I never knew how much that dreary grey weather affected me until I got away from it.

I grew up (mostly) in that area and currently live an hour south of Rogersville in the Branson area. I went to high school in Ozark, just south of Springfield.

It is a beautiful area, especially when you get out in the hill and lake country. Rogersville is on the Springfield Plateau, geologically speaking, which makes if fairly flat. If you go south or east from there, you get into the Ozark hills. Of course, that also takes you farther from Springfield and the "big city" amenities and health care that it provides.

It is a very conservative area, although Springfield itself is fairly progressive for Missouri. Health care is decent, not great. Cox and Mercy are the two major health care providers.

Cost of living is excellent. Gas is cheap, housing is cheap, groceries are affordable. I do miss the fresh seafood that I got when I lived in Alabama.

Winters aren't too bad. You will get two or three major snows and some ice every winter, along with a handful of days that don't get above freezing. You'll also have some winter days where it gets near 60. Summer is hot, but not as hot as the Gulf Coast.

You might also look into Ozark. It's a good mix of accessibility to Springfield and the hill/lake country, as well as having a nice small town feel. Nixa is ok too, but I prefer Ozark.

Happy to answer any specific questions you have.