Travel & Recreation

Revealed: How The Villages, FL Has Become a Retirement Hotspot

Cash for your car

It’s a generic name, and one that didn’t mean a thing to us until recently.

Then, an infographic entered our email systems, and all of this changed. It revealed some truly incredible statistics about the Villages, in Florida, and showed that this had everything going for it if you happened to be nearing the retirement age.

To provide something of a breakdown:

  • A ridiculous 54% of its residents are over the age of 65
  • The average age of the city is 66.4
  • Residents in the area have a mean social security income of more than $25,500.
  • The percentage of seniors below the poverty line is 5.6% (in other words, a tiny figure).

In truth, there were lots of other indications that this is one of the premier retirement hotspots. After all, with some cities in the infographic faring in the complete opposite manner (with Laredo in Texas being a prime example), the statistics for the Villages are bordering on the obscene.

Then, the penny dropped. This is a retirement village. In other words, it’s only open to the over 55s. It also happens to be classed as the place where “anything you can dream of doing, learning or becoming is possible”. In other words, we fully understand where the monetary figures now come from.

Still, it prompted some internal thoughts about just how differently retirement communities are now being treated. Once upon a time, a concept such as the above would have never been thought of, but now it’s grabbing the headlines for all of the right reasons.

Of course, you don’t necessarily have to invest in a specific retirement village to reap the rewards. Some of the other cities featured in the infographic have organically started to appeal to this age bracket, with Punta Gorda (also in Florida) and Barnstable (in Massachusetts) being two examples. In other words, if you don’t have the means to perhaps afford a place like The Villages, you can rely on data to help you find a more than adequate alternative.

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