Houston Relaxes in Top 10 on New List of Best U.S. Cities to Retire

Retirees move for a variety of reasons, but moving to a place with a lower cost of living (and a more relaxed lifestyle) is the best reason to move to a place like Houstonwhich was just named one of the best cities to store your work boots.

Houston ranked No. 7 in SmartAsset’s new national rankings “Where Retirees Are Moving – 2024 Study,” released May 2, with the seventh highest rate of retirees flocking to the city.

To determine where retirement-age Americans are moving, the report used Census Bureau data from 182 major U.S. cities and populations in all 50 states with people ages 60 and older. Net migration was determined by subtracting the number of retirees who left their city in 2022 and the number of retirees who moved from out of state to the respective cities.

The report found that Houston’s retirement-age population stands at more than 411,000 people, representing 17.8 percent of the total population. Nearly 4,700 seniors moved to the city from out of state, and more than 3,500 moved out, representing a net migration of 1,139 retirees.

Retiree lifestyles don’t seem as compatible with the status quo in Austin or Dallas, which fall well outside the top 100 cities as No. 133 and No. 157, respectively.

So why do retirees choose Houston over most other U.S. cities? As well as being home to some of the best medical centers and hospitals, the city is full of diversity and the (generally) favorable climate also adds to its appeal.

“As people retire, their goals change, often leading them to reconsider where they live and how they spend their money,” the report’s author writes. “Areas with high costs of living, high taxes and cold winters, for example, could encourage retirees to move to warmer locations where they can further expand their retirement savings and enjoy their free time. “

Other Texas cities that earned a spot in the top 10 were San Antonio (No. 2) and Fort Worth (No. 8). San Antonio took silver as the second most attractive U.S. city for retirees, after more than 4,100 seniors moved to the city in 2022. Fewer than 1,200 made the opposite move, or a net migration of 2,936 retirees.

Fort Worth saw a net migration of 1,130 people, with 2,119 seniors moving into the city and 989 moving out in 2022.

The 10 U.S. cities that saw the largest influx of retirement-age people are:

• #1 – Mesa, Arizona
• #2 – San Antonio, Texas
• No. 3 – Henderson, Nevada
• #4 – St. Petersburg, Florida
• No. 5 – Murfreesboro, Tennessee
• No. 6 – Chattanooga, Tennessee
• #7 – Houston, Texas
• #8 – Fort Worth, Texas
• #9 – Atlanta, Georgia
• No. 10 – Clearwater, Florida

Texas is a generally preferred destination for retirees
In a statewide comparison, Texas came first while Number 4 Top state for retirees. The Lone Star State’s over-60s total nearly 5.7 million people, or 19 percent of the total population.

Fewer than 69,000 seniors moved to Texas in 2022, and just over 50,000 moved in the opposite direction, creating a net migration of 18,742 retirement-age residents.

Texans may want to take the city-level results with a grain of salt, as the report points out that its data does not take into account migration within the state, only migration from state to state. other. Additionally, not all retirees are 60 years old and do not all live in the same place.

“For example, if a person moved from Scottsdale, Arizona to Phoenix, they would not be included in our data,” the report adds. “Some retirees may live in multiple locations throughout the year; this is not reflected in our measurements. »

The three states that outperformed Texas in the statewide analysis were Florida (No. 1), Arizona (No. 2) and South Carolina (No. 3). North Carolina rounds out the top five.

The full report is available at smartasset.com.