Two North Carolina cities rank among nation’s hot spots for retirees. Here’s why
North Carolina is home to two of the nation’s hot spots for retirees, new rankings show.
Wilmington ranks No. 6 and Raleigh is No. 10 on a list of places attracting more older adults than they lose, according to results published Tuesday, April 4.
To come up with the list of top places “Where Retirees are Moving,” the personal finance website SmartAsset said it studied 2021 data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Focusing on “146 of the largest cities in the U.S. for which data was available,” it considered population trends for people around retirement age.
SmartAsset said it “found net migration for each city by subtracting the number of retirees who moved out of the city to a different state in 2021 from the number of people aged 60 and older who moved into the city from a different state.”
Among the North Carolina cities, the coastal gateway of Wilmington landed higher on the list after it gained 992 older residents.
“No city in our top 10 has a higher percentage of residents 60 and older than Wilmington, where seniors comprise nearly 27% of the total population...” SmartAsset wrote in its report. “Wilmington boasts an impressive retention rate of retirees, as only 453 people aged 60 and up left Wilmington for another state — the lowest emigration rate of our top 10.”
Meanwhile, Raleigh gained 830 new older residents. North Carolina’s capital city received nods for having a “relatively low cost of living” and an “exceptionally low” rate of residents moving out of the state.
“Only 454 seniors moved out throughout 2021 — one more than from Wilmington,” the report said.
The findings come after Raleigh ranked among the nation’s best places for retirees to live. But the city also is appealing to other age groups, ranking among the top destinations for millennials and Generation Z residents, McClatchy News reported.
Wilmington also has made its mark. Recently, a U.S. moving company named it the No. 1 city that people flocked to in 2022.
.JPG "Raleigh skyline (1).JPG")
In the latest report, SmartAsset said potential limitations include that not all people ages 60 and older have retired and that the findings only concentrate on out-of-state moves.
When compared to other states, North Carolina was found to have one of the largest net migrations. Among the state’s other cities on the list, Cary landed at No. 25, Durham at No. 28, Greensboro at No. 29, Fayetteville at No. 41, Winston-Salem at No. 58 and Charlotte at No. 130 — representing a “dramatic reversal.”
“The North Carolina city fell from No. 6 to No. 130,” SmartAsset said. “In our last study, Charlotte had a net gain of 1,290 residents 60 and older. But according to the most recent data, 3,150 retirees left Charlotte while only about 1,860 moved to the Queen City from other states.”
Overall, the highest-ranking destination for retirees was the Phoenix-area city of Mesa, Arizona. Rounding out the top five:
- Henderson, Nevada
- San Antonio, Texas
- North Las Vegas, Nevada
- Boise, Idaho
“Nevada, Texas and Florida took six of the top 10 spots for where retirees are moving,” SmartAsset wrote. “Coincidentally — or not — these states represent the intersection of warm climates and no state income tax.”
This story was originally published April 5, 2023 at 1:15 PM with the headline "Two North Carolina cities rank among nation’s hot spots for retirees. Here’s why."
