--- ---  # The 25 Most Popular Places to Retire in America  by [Chris Wilson](https://time.com/author/chris-wilson/)  ## Chris Wilson Apr 11, 2017 5:36 PM UTC  by [Chris Wilson](https://time.com/author/chris-wilson/)  ## Chris Wilson Apr 11, 2017 5:36 PM UTC For millions of Americans, retirement doesn’t just involve more time to fix up the house. It involves swapping out the house itself for one in a warmer climate. A TIME analysis of four years of Census records found that, among the 3.3 million people age 50 and over who were no longer in the work force and choose to move between states, their destinations were overwhelmingly clustered in just a few places: Florida, Arizona and the coast of South Carolina. [_Click here for more articles_](http://time.com/money/topic/looking-forward/) _from Time Inc.’s Looking Forward series._ Of the top locations, number one is Sumter County, Fla., which is home to the infamous retirement community [The Villages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%5FVillages,%5FFlorida) and has the highest median age of any county in Florida. [Lake Havasu City, Ariz.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake%5FHavasu%5FCity,%5FArizona) is a close second, following by Hilton Head Island, S.C. A handful of other states have smaller clusters of retirees. Many, for example, choose to spend their golden years in or around Las Vegas. Where to Retire: The Most Popular Locations ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4734442/retirement-popular-place-map/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4734442/retirement-popular-place-map/"},"headline":"The 25 Most Popular Places to Retire in America","datePublished":"2017-04-11T17:36:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:57:51.285Z","description":"The most popular destinations for retirement are overwhelmingly in Florida, Arizona and the coast of South Carolina.","url":"https://time.com/4734442/retirement-popular-place-map/","keywords":["Living","Retirement"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt631b114f8cf0b521/6988c255a988ca0a896bbae1/retirement-fb.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chris Wilson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/chris-wilson/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt631b114f8cf0b521/6988c255a988ca0a896bbae1/retirement-fb.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Scenic View Of Harbor And Sea Against Sky During Sunset","caption":"Scenic View Of Harbor And Sea Against Sky During Sunset","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4734442/retirement-popular-place-map/","name":"The 25 Most Popular Places to Retire in America"}}]}] ```