Migration Of Older Adults In America

We tend to think of “migration” in terms of people who come into this country seeking a better life, but migration occurs within our country as well. It’s called “domestic migration.” From a new census bureau report we can learn a great deal about the move patterns of older adults.

I the idea of older adults on the move counterintuitive? Is it more natural to think that older adults would be inclined to stay within the community where they had friends, maybe raised kids? With all the talk about aging-in-place, one might be tempted to believe that older adults just want to stay rooted where they are. In fact, preferences for housing among older adults may be influenced by a number of factors, most of them having to do with life changes. Children may move away, disabilities may create challenges to navigating stairs, and cognitive decline may make living alone hazardous. These shifts can precipitate relocation, especially in the very old.

Using data from the 2015-2019 American Community Survey (A U.S. Census Bureau data gathering project), we can get a glimpse of the domestic migration patterns of older adults. In general, older people were far less likely to move than younger people, and the reason for that gap should be fairly obvious. Young people move because of schools, jobs, and the desire to find the most supportive environment in which to raise their families.

For those in their late 50s and into their 60s (sometimes called the “young old”), moves may become enticing once again for some. At that point in life, moves are generally to find better amenities, possibly a warmer climate, maybe a neighborhood with services that better fit their needs. Often these moves are experimental in nature (“let’s see if we like it here and want to stay”).

Later in life, with the onset of physical declines, older adults may move to be nearer to family, for social, material, and possibly physical support. And sometimes these moves are made for the sake of helping adult children struggling to juggle jobs and childcare.

In general, older people were far less likely to move than younger people and most of their moves were short distances within the same county, especially for those 85 years and older. These kinds of moves were primarily to obtain safer, more supportive homes in senior residential communities of some kind.

However, despite the short-distance moves of the oldest population cohort, those in the younger-old cohort (65-74) showed a pattern similar to younger adults. The South had the largest net migration gain or older people, at about 73,000 during a typical year in the 2015-2019 span, which was larger than the West’s gain at approximately 8800. The Northeast lost about ~46,800 in a given year and the Midwest lost ~34,900. However, the West encompasses several sub-regions or divisions and those sub-regions experienced very different patterns. The mountain division experienced positive in-migration, where the pacific division lost about 18,500 people. California had the largest losses at just over 19,000 people from net migration.

Among all the states, Florida gained the largest number of older people and New York experienced the largest loss from this domestic migration. Florida, at ~53,150 annually, iwas more than twice the ~21,440 older adults that moved to Arizona. Also adding older adults at somewhat smaller numbers, were Texas, South Carolina, and North Carolina.