Americans on the brink of retirement should head for rockier terrain. But, if you're coming to Florida, Cape Coral is the place to retire.

Phoenix, Denver and Colorado Springs are among the top 10 best cities to retire, according to a Bankrate.com survey out today.

Cape Coral is the only Florida city to make the list.

The full list includes:

1. Phoenix metro area, including Mesa and Scottsdale

2. Arlington/Alexandria, Va.

3. Prescott, Ariz.

4. Tucson

5. Des Moines

6. Denver

7. Austin

8. Cape Coral, Florida

9. Colorado Springs

10. Franklin, Tennessee

Arizona cities showed up three times in the top 10 due to unparalleled weather and low property taxes, says Chris Kahn, research and statistics analyst at Bankrate.

"It's just a great place for a low-maintenance, outdoor type of lifestyle," he says. Plus, "your dollar is going to stretch further in Arizona."

Bankrate ranked the cities based on cost of living, weather, crime rate, health care quality, tax rates, walkability and a measure of well-being based on surveys of seniors already in the areas. Retirees, in particular, need to prioritize cost of living because they're relying on a fixed income, Kahn says.

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However, proximity to family may often trump all other factors when it comes to deciding where to live in retirement, says Tom Warschauer, a finance professor and director of the personal financial planning program at San Diego State University.

"If the financial factors were the dominant factors, you would find everybody moving to the least costly alternative," he says. "And that's not happening."

He recommends retirees also take into account whether they want to live in a community with people their own age or be in a neighborhood with a range of age groups.