[motherflippinpicker]

Originally Posted by FriscoKid

Gen Xers Moving to Retirement Areas, Out of Cities Like New York - Business Insider
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An interesting article that put some numbers around a phenomenon that I have observed in my southern area of The Villages.

A few highlights:

“Forget New York: Gen X is following boomers to retirement-friendly places like Florida

Gen Xers are living like they're 20 years older — or at least moving to the favored locales of their retiree counterparts.

An exclusive analysis of Census data for BI from the University of Virginia demographer Hamilton Lombard reveals the areas in the US that Gen Xers have left behind and where they went.”

A little later it goes on:

“Between 2020 and 2023, counties in Florida and Texas, many of which are retirement havens, experienced the largest increases in their Gen X populations — defined as those who were between 45 and 54 years old in 2023 — per the analysis.

The analysis also found that the population of that demographic in "retirement destination" counties rose by 5.1% between 2020 and 2023, over three times as fast as the country's 1.6% growth rate in the same period. The USDA defined those counties as having at least a 15% increase in their populations age 60 and up from net migration between 2000 and 2010.”

“Lee County, Florida, home to Fort Myers and Cape Coral, saw the largest change between 2020 and 2023, with a net increase of over 10,500 Gen Xers. Meanwhile, over 9,700 net residents moved to Polk County, in central Florida, to the east of Tampa. Another nearly 8,500 net residents relocated to Pasco County on Florida's western coast.”

“Another popular destination for Gen Xers: The Villages in Florida, often thought of as the Disney World of retirement. Sumter County, Florida, which contains The Villages, gained nearly 2,000 members of that generation from 2020 to 2023, bringing the population to about 9,800.

Gen Xers may have been drawn to the ample amenities — and unique golf cart culture — that the area offers. The median age in Sumter County has fallen slightly from 68.9 in 2019 to 68.2 in 2023, per the Census Bureau's American Community Survey.”
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Gen x here... My husband and I are 55 & 56. We were tired of the "outside world craziness" and decided to move up our plans by 7-10 years. We still work but it's much more enjoyable working from The Villages than the real world.

I do wonder about my children ever wanting to retire to The Villages. I can't see it. Their generation is more chilled out and they like much different things, like gaming. I wonder how The Villages will attract the next generations. My kids and their friends hate HOAs and being told what to do and maintaining guidelines. They also are not at all interested in most activities here. It is curious to imagine what The Villages will look like in 25-30 years.