2024 Study: A Look at the Biggest Wave of Retiree Moves in Three Years

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Key Findings

  • More than 338,000 Americans moved to retire in 2023, an increase of 44% compared to 2022
  • Florida is the top destination for retirement moves that crossed state lines, attracting 11% of them in 2023
  • California (18%) and New York (11%) have the highest share of retirees moving to new states 
  • Miami-Fort-Lauderdale, FL is the #1 metro for retirement moves, with 12.3% of them headed to this area in Florida
  • Nearly a quarter (23%) of all Americans moving to retire were early retirees aged under 55

The year 2023 was a big year for retirement moves!

According to the U.S. Census Bureau data, retirement moves reached a three-year high! With housing markets cooling off, inflation slowing down, and social security benefits increasing, it’s no surprise that 44% more Americans moved in retirement compared to in 2022.

How else have these developments affected moving after retirement in 2023? Where did retirees relocate to, and which places did they leave behind?

In this latest edition of our annual retirement moves study, we look at trends that shaped moving in retirement in 2023, highlight top origins and destinations, and zoom in on the changing demographics of retirees on the move.


an illustration of a colorful cocktail, but the ice cubes are depicted as moving boxesBucking the Trend: Retirement Moves Continued Rising Through 2023

In 2023, when the share of Americans who moved fell to a historic low of 7.8%, retirement moves registered a 44% growth compared to the year prior. That equates to more than 338,000 Americans moving to retire in 2023 — the highest in three years.

This means that after falling briefly during COVID, the number of Americans moving to retire has grown for the third consecutive year.

Similarly to the findings in our previous studies of moving for retirement, Americans who moved at this stage of their lives were more likely to relocate to a different state last year. A quarter (25%) of retirement moves in the U.S. in 2023 crossed state lines, compared to 18% of moves overall.


Sun, Sun, Sun: Florida Tops State Destination Rankings, Again

For those Americans choosing to retire out of state, Florida was again the number one destination in 2023. The Sunshine State attracted around one in ten (11%) of all retirement moves that went to a different state.

South Carolina gave Florida a good run for its money as the destination for 10% of all cross-state retirement moves in 2023. Meanwhile, New Jersey and Texas each accounted for roughly 6% of such moves, respectively.

 

“The 2023 crop of retirees on the move was significantly younger…37% of them were under the age of 65, including 23% who were under 55.”

 

As for the states retirees are leaving, the greatest share of relocating retirees came from California, with 18% of all retirement moves that crossed state lines originating in California. New York contributed a further 11% of retirees seeking a new place to live outside their home state.

Curiously enough, states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania appear on both receiving and leaving lists. This has to do with the fact that while many people do move to Florida and New Jersey for retirement, a similar amount of people are leaving these states too.

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Miami Remains a Retirement Magnet: Top Metros for Retirees on the Move

In another victory for Florida, Miami-Fort Lauderdale was the top destination for retirement moves in 2023.

This metro located right on the Atlantic coast is well within its right to attract many of those seeking a great place to retire. Highland Beach — one of Fort Lauderdale’s suburbs — ranks #3 as the best place to retire according to Niche.com, while Miami is in the fourth spot of CN Traveller’s ranking of best retirement destinations. 

And even though the cost of living in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro is on the rise, it’s still significantly lower than in the U.S. biggest cities. 

Other popular metropolitan areas last year included El Paso, TX (~8% of moves), and yet another Florida metro: North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL (6%).

In the Midwest, Kansas City, MO-KS, and Cleveland-Elyria, OH each took about 3% of all retirement moves that took place in 2023. Both these metros have likely attracted many retirees due to affordable housing and a generally lower cost of living

 

“In 2023, when the share of Americans who moved fell to a historic low of 7.8%, retirement moves registered a 44% growth compared to the year prior. That equates to more than 338,000 Americans moving to retire…”

 

Retirees with money

The fact that two Californian metros feature on the top 10 list of retirement move destinations in 2023 suggests two parallel trends within retirement moves. 

Retirees with a good amount of savings and high pensions are likely moving to metros like Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL and San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CAFolks looking to save money in retirement, on the other hand, are more likely to choose El Paso, TX, and Kansas City, MO-KS — areas where settling down for retirement won’t cost a fortune.

To browse states and metros you may be interested in, check out the interactive map below:


Health and Family: Key Reason Behind Retirement Moves in 2023

Besides retirement itself, some of the most common reasons contributing to retirement movies in 2023, according to a recent U.S. Census Bureau moving data report, were said to do with family and health. “Better housing” and “cheaper housing” did remain relevant, but they’re not driving as many moves as they did in 2022.

It’s worth noting that “other family reason” was most often clarified to mean adding a new family member (e.g., pregnant, had a baby, adoption), moving with family member(s), or assisting or taking care of family members. 

Because adding a new family member is unlikely for someone of retirement age, it’s safe to assume that the majority of retirees who moved citing “other family reason” did so to be closer to family, either to help take care of them or to receive care themselves.

 

“…the median household income of retirees who moved in 2023 was $88,347, which is 17% higher than a typical household income in the United States…”

 

This is consistent with the findings of our study of the Sandwich Generation — meaning adults “sandwiched” between taking care of their aging (and likely retired) parents, and their children.

More than a quarter (26%) of the respondents in our Sandwich Generation survey were considering moving their parents closer to give them the care they need, and 24% were thinking about their parent(s) moving in with them.

With so many retirees factoring in family and health into their moves in 2023, it’s likely this emerging trend is already starting to unfold.

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Younger, Wealthier, and Most Likely Single: The Demographics of Retirees Moving in 2023

One standout feature of 2023 moving retirees is that they were overwhelmingly more likely to be single. (Or, at the very least, not married.) 

In 2022, more than half (55%) of retirees moving were spouses. But last year, that share dropped to just 45% — the lowest percentage ever on record.

The 2023 crop of retirees on the move was significantly younger as well, as 37% of them were under the age of 65, including 23% who were under 55. Compare this to just 26% of 2022 retirees who were under 55. 

In another change compared to 2022, a third (33%) of American retirees moving in 2023 were people of color, up from 14% the year before. 

Finally, the median household income of retirees who moved in 2023 was $88,347, which is 17% higher than a typical household income in the United States, according to the latest data. It is also 35% higher than the median income of someone moving into retirement last year, which was just above $65,000.


Sources and Methodology
Unless otherwise stated, all the data behind the charts in this study were taken from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey and its Annual Social and Economic Supplements for 2023. 
To calculate the most moved-in and moved-out states and cities, we took the percentage of all retirees in 2023 who moved or left a state or city.

Illustrations by Daniel Fishel

The Best Small Towns for Working Remotely in the US in 2020

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Key Findings:

  • The best town for working remotely in the US is Gatlinburg, TN
  • Three Delaware towns are in the top 10 most remote-friendly places in the country
  • Leland Grove, IL is the smallest town in the top 10, with 1,464 residents

As more and more people choose (or are forced) to work remotely, many are realizing they don’t necessarily have to live in the big cities where their employers tend to be based. In fact, they can move to save money. If you can work and be productive remotely, why endure a concrete jungle with barely affordable rent, high cost of living, and a crowded commute? Working from home is in.

To help all the remote workers out there, HireAHelper created an algorithm that ranks a town’s internet accessibility, cost of living, and much more in order to figure out where the best places to work remotely in 2020 are.

Lo and behold, HireAHelper’s ranking of the top places for working remotely in the United States!

See the chart below to explore the rankings. Check how towns compare on the overall scores, plus compare the top 50 towns on individual factors.

The Top 10 Towns

The top of our table offers something for everyone. From mountainous Gatlinburg TN and Manitou Springs, CO, to the suburban Leland Grove, IL, and Collingwood, NJ. 

And of all the towns, Delaware somewhat surprisingly dominates. The Diamond State, with its affordable high-speed broadband, excellent local amenities, and plenty of open green spaces, has a total of three towns land in our top 10! 

Here is each town in our top 10, all perfect for your next Zoom meeting.

    = Financials (i.e., cost of living, local income, property and sales tax rates, housing prices) 
= Comforts (i.e., coffee shops, restaurants) 
= Broadband offerings (i.e., terms of coverage, speed, and cost, & free Wi-Fi hotspots) 
= Conditions (i.e., greenery, open-air, air quality)

1. Gatlinburg, TN  |

Gatlinburg, TN
Gatlinburg, TN

Winning the #1 spot in the ranking, it’s Gatlinburg in Tennessee. On the doorstep to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, this town is affordable, has a reliable 2 GB internet connection, and no shortage of places to grab a hot brew or a bite to eat. Not to mention, you have access to lots of green spaces inside one of the greatest national parks in the country.

2. New Castle, DE  |

Closely behind in second place is New Castle in Delaware. Set on the outskirts of Wilmington, New Castle offers a manageable cost of living, speedy broadband, and plenty of spots for food and coffee. It’s a town full of quaint charm, but one thing that put New Castle so high in our ranking is a relatively low house pricing compared to many other towns in Delaware, and beyond.

3. Lewes, DE  |

Another historic beach town in the state of Delaware, Lewes combines the charm of an East Coast beach town that offsets a lot of the East Coast cost of living with Delaware’s famously low taxes. Add a strong local food scene and some affordable high-speed internet, and you’ve got yourself one of the greatest towns for remote working.

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4. Collingswood, NJ  |

Despite being a proverbial stone’s throw away from Philadelphia, Collingswood in New Jersey town was able to preserve its small-town feel. Benefitting from a fair number of parks and coffee spots, here you also find some relatively affordable housing, along with the ubiquitous fast-speed broadband.

5. Leland Grove, IL  |

Leland Grove, IL
Leland Grove, IL

Another suburban entry on our top ten is Leland Grove, just outside Springfield in Illinois. Much like in other places at the top of our list, here the houses are affordable, coffee spots – plentiful, and broadband – cheap and fast.

6. Rehoboth Beach, DE  |  

A third Delaware town in our top ten, and similarly to its counterparts, Rehoboth Beach mixes colonial history with its beach town charm. Despite the relatively high cost of living and house prices, the taxes are “Delaware low”, and with excellent internet connectivity and no shortage of coffee shops, this 1,500-strong town is firmly in the sixth spot on our list.

7. Manitou Springs, CO  |

Manitou Springs, CO
Manitou Springs, CO

Situated in the foothills of the beautiful Rocky Mountains, the town Manitou Springs in Colorado boasts unrivaled access to scenic parks, hiking trails, and some of the freshest air in the country. On top of that, it has plenty to offer in a way of food and coffee… not to mention the fast internet and low taxes. What’s not to like?

8. Southport, NC  |

Southport, NC
Southport, NC

Back on the East Coast, another attractive town beckons. This time, it’s Southport in North Carolina. Come for the attractive combination of good parks and glorious ocean views, stay for the burgeoning restaurant scene and affordable housing. 

9.  Nevada City, CA  |

The highest-ranking Californian town in our rating is Nevada City. This old Gold Rush town wins its spot by offering its residents excellent internet connection for a good price, a decent selection of food and coffee, and some incredible parks and hiking trails. 

10. Winter Park, FL  |

Hardly any ranking is complete without an entry from the Sunshine state, and the one on our list is Winter Park. Close to Orlando, it might not be the cheapest around, but it’s renowned for its vast green spaces and has excellent amenities in terms of coffee, Wi-Fi, and not to mention high-speed home internet. And it’s hard to beat that Florida sunshine.

What Are the Best Remote-Friendly Places in My State?

America’s best places for remote work might not be in your state, but don’t worry, we found that each state has a town or a small city suitable for working away from the office.

Check out our handy city-finder map down below. You can search through the highest-rated remote-friendly location in your part of the country. 

Affordable, Connected, Green: How We Ranked the Towns (and 382 More Great Places) work from home

To get started with the places we were going to choose from, we rounded up some of the most beautiful towns in America. (If you’re going to move somewhere to work remotely, it might as well be beautiful, right?). To do this, we relied on various articles, like this one from The Culture Trip, to find the most attractive places in each of the 50 states to work from home in.

Then, using the data from the US Census Bureau, we filtered anywhere with a population less than 1,000 and more than 50,000, leaving 392 towns on our final list.

To rank them all, we crunched the numbers on four different factors, then aggregated them.

To get a sense of what living in each town is like financially, we gathered the estimates of the cost of living, local income, property, and sales tax rates, as well as housing prices. 

A speedy and reliable Internet connection is critical to successful remote set-up, so we looked up each town’s broadband offering in terms of coverage, speed, and cost. Plus, we counted up the free Wi-Fi hotspots in the area. 

Living in a small town doesn’t have to mean missing out on good food and coffee, so we estimated the number of coffee shops, restaurants, and food delivery options for each town in our selections.

Finally, the big draw of living in a small town is fresh air and access to green spaces, which is why we looked at the number of parks and hiking spots around each town, took in data on air and water quality, and threw in an estimate of weather comfort to round off the rankings.

If you’re keen to explore the data in more detail, check out the full table below with all 392 towns we profiled.

Sources and Methodology
The sources of data used in the piece are as follows:
The overall score has a maximum of 100 points and is based on a selection of 16 factors, which were weighted as follows:
Financials
  • Cost of Living – 10 points, 
  • Local Tax Burden – 5 points 
  • House Price – 5 points
Work Amenities
  • Broadband Speed – 10 points 
  • Broadband Cost – 5 points 
  • Broadband Coverage – 5 points
  • Coworking Spaces per 1,000 residents – 5 points 
  • Free Wi-Fi Spots per 1,000 residents – 5 points
Comforts
  • Coffee Shops per 1,000 residents – 10 points
  • Restaurants per 1,000 residents  – 10 points 
  • Food Delivery Options  per 1,000 residents – 5 points 
  • Libraries per 1,000 residents – 5 points
Conditions: 
  • Parks per 1,000 residents – 10 points
  • Weather Comfort – 5 points
  • Air Quality – 3 points 
  • Water Quality – 2 points 
Image credits:
  1. Gatlinburg, TN, photo by Evan Nichols, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0).
  2. Leland Grove, IL, photo by Jim Roberts, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).
  3. Manitou Springs, CO, photo by vanitea, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0).
  4. Southport, NC, photo by by Space Mule, license under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0) 

    Illustrations by Chelsea Beck
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