Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie among America’s 50 fastest-growing retirement boomtowns
According to a new GOBankingRates study, the populations in 50 U.S. retirement hotspots have increased by 20% or more since 2018.
To find those places, GOBankingRates sourced the latest publicly available U.S. Census Bureau data to analyze cities with at least 7,500 people ages 65-plus and a percentage of the population ages 65-plus that is greater than the national average of 16.84%.
Key Findings
- Leesburg, Florida, and Goodyear, Arizona, take first and second place in GOBanking’s rankings, each with retirement populations that have boomed over 54% since 2018.
- Twelve Florida cities ranked for their rapid growth, the most of any state: Leesburg (#1), Edgewater (#3), Tavares (#5), Fort Pierce (#7), Clermont (#8), Port Saint Lucie (#18), Winter Springs (#19), Pensacola (#21), Cape Coral (#24), West Palm Beach (#38), Palm Coast (#41) and Ormond Beach (#49).
- Five surprising non-Florida hotspots, including two Arizona cities, rounded out the top 10. They include Goodyear (#2); Peoria, Arizona (#4); Lacey, Washington (#6); Galveston, Texas (#9); and Vestavia Hills, Alabama (#10).
- Galveston is the only Texas city to break into the top 50.
| Rank | Location | 5-Year % Change in Population Ages 65+ | 1-Year % Change in Population Ages 65+ | 2023 Population Ages 65+ (%) | 2023 Population Ages 65+ (#) |
| 1 | Leesburg, Florida | 54.77% | 9.91% | 28.87% | 8,217 |
| 2 | Goodyear, Arizona | 54.12% | 5.54% | 18.05% | 18,575 |
| 3 | Edgewater, Florida | 48.96% | 2.63% | 32.98% | 7,688 |
| 4 | Peoria, Arizona | 42.31% | 5.04% | 19.56% | 38,012 |
| 5 | Tavares, Florida | 41.55% | 4.31% | 38.01% | 7,502 |
| 6 | Lacey, Washington | 40.00% | 8.35% | 18.99% | 10,839 |
| 7 | Fort Pierce, Florida | 38.68% | 5.13% | 21.39% | 10,289 |
| 8 | Clermont, Florida | 38.45% | 4.65% | 24.66% | 11,095 |
| 9 | Galveston, Texas | 38.40% | 5.42% | 20.12% | 10,736 |
| 10 | Vestavia Hills, Alabama | 37.76% | 9.47% | 19.44% | 7,523 |
| 11 | Myrtle Beach, South Carolina | 37.23% | 9.12% | 23.56% | 8,766 |
| 12 | Grove City, Ohio | 35.85% | 3.80% | 18.74% | 7,840 |
| 13 | Annapolis, Maryland | 33.00% | 3.94% | 19.29% | 7,859 |
| 14 | Rio Rancho, New Mexico | 32.89% | 4.30% | 17.22% | 18,342 |
| 15 | Coeur d’Alene, Idaho | 32.12% | 4.00% | 19.91% | 11,061 |
| 16 | Longmont, Colorado | 32.10% | 3.96% | 17.81% | 17,623 |
| 17 | Mesquite, Nevada | 31.58% | 3.75% | 45.00% | 9,592 |
| 18 | Port Saint Lucie, Florida | 29.44% | 5.24% | 21.47% | 47,322 |
| 19 | Winter Springs, Florida | 29.37% | 2.41% | 20.85% | 8,016 |
| 20 | New Bern, North Carolina | 28.56% | 3.94% | 24.13% | 7,617 |
| 21 | Pensacola, Florida | 27.54% | 3.04% | 20.85% | 11,259 |
| 22 | Grand Junction, Colorado | 27.43% | 2.86% | 20.47% | 13,719 |
| 23 | Cleveland, Tennessee | 27.28% | 4.58% | 17.66% | 8,509 |
| 24 | Cape Coral, Florida | 26.97% | 5.01% | 25.04% | 51,678 |
| 25 | Clifton, New Jersey | 26.65% | 4.30% | 18.33% | 16,361 |
| 26 | Santa Fe, New Mexico | 25.84% | 5.46% | 25.81% | 22,774 |
| 27 | Sierra Vista, Arizona | 25.54% | 10.75% | 21.58% | 9,753 |
| 28 | Saint Peters, Missouri | 25.31% | 5.70% | 18.73% | 10,901 |
| 29 | Mount Vernon, New York | 24.98% | 5.70% | 18.06% | 13,097 |
| 30 | Marion, Iowa | 24.77% | 4.50% | 18.15% | 7,566 |
| 31 | Petaluma, California | 24.70% | 8.28% | 21.32% | 12,647 |
| 32 | Hackensack, New Jersey | 24.12% | 3.96% | 17.09% | 7,821 |
| 33 | Diamond Bar, California | 22.78% | 7.06% | 20.15% | 10,828 |
| 34 | Elmhurst, Illinois | 22.63% | 3.52% | 18.48% | 8,416 |
| 35 | Eugene, Oregon | 22.26% | 3.37% | 17.66% | 31,353 |
| 36 | Lake Oswego, Oregon | 22.03% | 3.86% | 22.91% | 9,249 |
| 37 | Saint Charles, Missouri | 21.25% | 4.57% | 18.58% | 13,202 |
| 38 | West Palm Beach, Florida | 21.09% | 3.92% | 20.34% | 24,305 |
| 39 | Napa, California | 21.04% | 4.32% | 19.28% | 15,199 |
| 40 | Niagara Falls, New York | 21.00% | 3.17% | 18.83% | 9,075 |
| 41 | Palm Coast, Florida | 20.96% | 4.92% | 29.86% | 28,180 |
| 42 | Pacifica, California | 20.94% | 4.92% | 20.30% | 7,619 |
| 43 | Billings, Montana | 20.93% | 3.25% | 18.37% | 21,738 |
| 44 | Kingman, Arizona | 20.90% | 6.67% | 25.07% | 8,487 |
| 45 | Rapid City, South Dakota | 20.79% | 3.87% | 20.41% | 15,684 |
| 46 | Shoreline, Washington | 20.62% | 3.04% | 20.04% | 11,880 |
| 47 | Concord, New Hampshire | 20.42% | 2.96% | 18.46% | 8,161 |
| 48 | Quincy, Massachusetts | 20.37% | 6.02% | 17.71% | 17,951 |
| 49 | Ormond Beach, Florida | 20.29% | 6.42% | 33.31% | 14,494 |
| 50 | Rocky Mount, North Carolina | 20.02% | 5.67% | 20.24% | 10,965 |
Source: GOBankingRates analyzed cities across the United States to find the fastest growing retirement hotspots using data from the 2023, 2022, and 2018 US Census American Community Survey. To qualify for this study the city had to have the percent of their 2023 population ages 65 and over higher than the national averages; percent of 2023 population ages 65+ of 16.84%, 1yr change in population ages 65+ of 2.25%, and 1yr change in population ages 65+ of 13.67%. The qualifying cities were sorted to show the largest percent in population growth of population ages 65+. All data was collected on and is up to date as of July 15th, 2025.
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