WASHINGTON (AP) — Many older Americans are staying put in traditional big cities to hold onto jobs, creating slowdowns in population growth at once-popular retirement destinations in the South and West.
Census estimates for 2009, released Tuesday, capture the impact of the housing downturn and economic recession on the nation’s counties and metropolitan areas.
Annual growth of retirement-destination counties has declined substantially, despite the large cohort of baby boomers who are reaching retirement age.
In all, 126 of the 440 retirement counties lost population during the recession, many of them in Florida, Arizona, New Mexico and California.
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