Guide · ACS 2020-2024

Where retirees live

The Villages, FL has the largest share of residents aged 65 or older of any U.S. place with 10,000 or more people: 85.2%, against 17.2% for the United States (ACS 2020-2024). "Best" depends on what a retiree needs; this guide shows where people 65 and older already live, with what homes cost and what households earn there.

By the PlainCities data editor, a role carried out with AI agents and scripts. Every figure is computed from the Census Bureau's files loaded for this release; the release checks last ran on October 9, 2026 (results).

Which places have the most residents aged 65 or older?

Places of 10,000+ residents with the highest share aged 65 or older, reliable estimates only, ACS 2020-2024
Place	Aged 65+	Median age	Median home value	Median household income
The Villages, FL	85.2%±1.4 pts	74.1	$400,100	$77,622
Sun City West, AZ	85.0%±2.0 pts	74.8	$377,800	$63,685
Laguna Woods, CA	83.1%±3.0 pts	74.9	$394,600	$59,269
Green Valley, AZ	80.5%±2.3 pts	73.6	$293,500	$62,063
On Top of the World, FL	79.1%±3.1 pts	71.4	$303,900	$60,670
Sun Lakes, AZ	78.9%±2.9 pts	73.5	$455,200	$67,853
Sun City, AZ	74.7%±2.4 pts	72.7	$280,900	$54,586
Saddlebrooke, AZ	71.5%±5.0 pts	72.4	$498,700	$88,686
Holiday City-Berkeley, NJ	68.9%±3.3 pts	70.5	$266,200	$50,156
Rotonda, FL	62.5%±5.0 pts	68.2	$389,400	$74,573
Venice, FL	61.4%±2.7 pts	69.2	$434,700	$76,755
Hot Springs Village, AR	60.3%±4.0 pts	69.6	$272,000	$75,370
Englewood, FL	60.1%±3.2 pts	68.5	$339,900	$69,222
Marco Island, FL	59.3%±3.0 pts	67.9	$896,300	$101,523
Iona, FL	59.3%±4.3 pts	68.6	$322,800	$66,827
Sun City Center, FL	58.4%±4.2 pts	69.1	$317,000	$73,528
Naples, FL	55.8%±3.1 pts	67.3	$1,525,600	$153,182
West Vero Corridor, FL	55.8%±5.3 pts	67.8	$216,400	$61,927
Lady Lake, FL	54.5%±5.1 pts	66.9	$227,300	$46,074
Gold Canyon, AZ	54.3%±3.9 pts	66.6	$508,100	$93,377
Punta Gorda, FL	53.6%±3.4 pts	66.3	$518,100	$85,779
Sugarmill Woods, FL	53.1%±4.7 pts	67.0	$332,600	$71,426
Rancho Mirage, CA	52.6%±3.4 pts	66.1	$807,200	$107,364
Estero, FL	51.9%±2.6 pts	66.0	$461,900	$104,102
Pine Ridge (Citrus County), FL	51.8%±4.9 pts	65.5	$384,800	$71,014
Palmer Ranch, FL	49.7%±4.5 pts	64.9	$592,900	$102,838
Manchester, NJ	48.1%±2.0 pts	64.2	$219,100	$56,885
Wildwood, FL	47.0%±3.0 pts	64.2	$451,600	$76,552
Mesquite, NV	46.8%±2.8 pts	63.4	$388,600	$75,227
Laurel, FL	46.8%±4.0 pts	63.7	$478,900	$92,340
Hudson, FL	46.4%±4.3 pts	63.8	$269,200	$51,513
Rio Vista, CA	46.4%±4.5 pts	63.8	$489,700	$89,306
North Fort Myers, FL	45.8%±2.5 pts	63.4	$161,800	$56,261
Fortuna Foothills, AZ	45.3%±2.3 pts	61.1	$199,200	$60,474
Bonita Springs, FL	44.2%±2.4 pts	62.1	$497,100	$95,210
Ocean Pines, MD	44.2%±2.9 pts	62.4	$380,100	$91,824
Seal Beach, CA	43.7%±2.3 pts	61.5	$486,800	$85,964
Port Townsend, WA	43.6%±2.8 pts	60.8	$543,400	$62,606
Berkeley, NJ	42.6%±2.3 pts	61.3	$310,000	$66,008
Cypress Lake, FL	42.3%±3.6 pts	60.2	$258,900	$62,590

Source: American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates (DP05, DP03, DP04), U.S. Census Bureau · Check it at data.census.gov

How was this list made?

The list starts from every city, town and census-designated place that counted 10,000 or more residents in the 2020 Census: 5,355 places whose share of residents aged 65 or older the American Community Survey measures closely enough to rank (a coefficient of variation of 40% or less). It is sorted by that share, so a resort town and a large city are measured on the same scale. Places below 10,000 residents are left out of this table because their estimates are wide; each still has its own record with the figure and its margin.

The median household income of a place with many retirees is lower partly because many households there no longer earn wages: the survey counts Social Security, pensions and retirement withdrawals as income, but not savings that are not drawn. Read income beside the median home value, which shows the wealth many older households hold in their homes.

What do the places with the most retirees have in common?

Compared with all 5,355 ranked places, the 40 in the table have an older median age (66.8 years against 39.4), a larger share of owner-occupied homes (85.0% against 67.9%) and a smaller share of residents in the labor force (33.2% of those 16 and older against 64.9%). Their median home value is $386,700, against $339,750 for all ranked places; the share of residents with a disability is 20.6%, against 12.4%.

The states with the most places in the table: Florida (22), Arizona (7), California (4). In all, 2,597 of the 5,355 ranked places have a larger share of residents aged 65 or older than the country as a whole.

How can a retiree compare two places?

Open both in the comparison tool, which sets the same measures side by side and marks the differences the survey can tell apart. Look below the city too: county pages list every census tract, about 4,000 residents each, with its median age and share of residents aged 65 or older, and the tract lookup finds the tract of an address. Retirement communities often fill one or two tracts of a county.

What should a retiree check that this table cannot show?

Climate, health care, taxes and the cost of everyday goods are not in these figures. PlainCities publishes the Census record of each place; for climate see the NOAA normals, for hospitals the CMS Care Compare search, and for state taxes the state's revenue department. The share of residents without health insurance and the share who lived in the same home a year earlier are on each place's own page.