America’s suburban towns are rapidly going gray. What the aging in place trend means for infrastructure, the real estate market and your equity

But a according to a data analysis from The Economist, “Between 2000 and 2024, the number of elderly residents living in suburban counties more than doubled.”

This comes amid a time of declining birth rates in America, with the U.S. recording its lowest-ever fertility rate of 1.6 births per woman in 2024. This follows declines that started in the early to mid 2000s.

At the same time, an AARP survey found that a majority (75%) of seniors aged 50 and older want to age in place, while 73% want to stay in their communities. Yet, only half of survey respondents felt their communities were equipped to meet their needs in the future, such as reliable utilities and health care access.

As seniors choose to age in place in suburbs designed for young, growing families, this will have an impact on everything from real estate to infrastructure to equity.

Millions of family-sized homes are increasingly occupied by retirees

Despite the graying of suburbia, there’s still demand from young families for homes in the suburbs. Yet, many single-family homes are owned by seniors whose children have flown the coop.

“Today 27% of homes with three or more bedrooms are occupied exclusively by people aged 65 or older. That share is up from 19% two decades ago,” according to The Economist’s analysis of Census data.

The Boomer and Silent generations represent 18% of the population; of those, most (78.6%) own their home, which represents about one-third of residential property value in the country, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)’s latest American Community Survey.

Yet, for seniors who own their home, there’s less incentive to downsize, even if they want to. Not only do they face higher mortgage rates, but they have fewer options to stay in their community, such as downsizing or moving into a retirement community. And not a lot of options are coming onto the market, either.

In 2024, the share of single-family homes with three bedrooms rose to its highest level since 2011, at 47%, according to NAHB. That accounts for almost half of starts for single-family homes. Just 11.4% had two bedrooms or less.

This keeps housing supply tight, could artificially inflate equity and ultimately lock younger homebuyers out of the market.

Aging suburbs weren’t designed for aging residents

Homes in suburbia were originally built for families. They’re often large, with two stories and multiple bedrooms. Suburbs are also designed around cars; you drive, not walk, to pick up milk at the grocery store.

Unlike urban centers, suburbs also tend to lack public transit and other services that would benefit seniors.

As a result, “more older Americans are falling into poverty in suburbs built for middle-class stability,” according to Axios. Its analysis of U.S. Census American Community Survey (ACS) data shows that millions of older Americans aren’t just aging in place in suburbs — they’re aging into poverty.

Jennifer Molinsky of Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies told Axios that many older adults in suburbs have lived there for decades and can’t find smaller, more accessible housing options nearby.

This also creates pressure on municipalities to expand transit, create walkable pedestrian infrastructure and improve access to services in low-density neighborhoods. But older residents on a fixed income are more sensitive to tax increases that could help fund this infrastructure.

Indeed, many seniors in suburbs are house rich but cash poor. One in three older households (34%) were cost-burdened in 2023, meaning they spent more than 30% of their income on housing, according to the State of the Nation’s Housing 2025 report.

Even if they’ve paid off their house, they’re facing higher costs for utilities, home insurance and property taxes. Older homes also require more maintenance. All of this can eat into their retirement savings.