SmartAsset, a financial technology company that focuses on major personal finance decisions like retirement, released a study on the best places for seniors to live in Ohio. Hillsboro was ranked eighth.

According to SmartAsset, they ranked Ohio cities based on tax rate; the number of doctors’ offices, recreation centers and retirement centers for every one-thousand residents; and the number of seniors in each area.

Highland County Health Commissioner Jared Warner told The Times-Gazette that one of the things about Hillsboro—and Highland County in general—is that people feel that they can rely on their community.

”People recognize that there are some real benefits to living where we are,” said Warner. “[We] always talk about the economic side of things, that housing’s affordable, and it’s not an expensive place to live, but we also have a greater sense of community here than you see in other parts of Ohio.”

Warner also referenced ‘Highland County: The Health of Our Community,’ a publication detailing the findings of the 2013 Greater Cincinnati Community Health Status Survey, which was compiled by Interact for Health, a foundation created to change the way health care is handled in Southern Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Southeastern Indiana. In ‘Highland County: The Health of Our Community,’ Interact for Health states, “Research has shown strong ties between people’s health and the social support they can find in their community.”

Interact for Health’s survey found that out of the 270 Highland County residents who participated in the survey, 84 percent of these residents believed that people could depend on each other in Highland County. 86 percent said that living in Highland County made them feel secure. 86 percent believed that people in Highland County can get help from the community if they are in trouble.

On top of that, Hillsboro has what Warner calls the best senior center he’s ever seen.

”We have one of the most active senior centers you will find anywhere in the state of Ohio,” Warner said. “You can just drive by another senior center in one of the surrounding areas, and you’re just not going to see the same level of activity that you do at ours. There’s just always something for the senior crowd to get into and get involved with.”

For more information about SmartAsset’s study or to view other top-ranked Ohio cities, go to https://smartasset.com/retirement/retirement-calculator#ohio/recreation-social.

Reach McKenzie Caldwell at 937-402-2570.