Jun 17, 2026
If someone asked you to think of which state you most associate with “retirement,” chances are you’d think of Florida.
It’s easy to see why Florida is a top retirement destination: warm climate, many retirement communities, no state income tax and no state inheritance or estate taxes.
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But some seniors who made the move to Florida for retirement are changing their minds. This migration trend for retirees — deemed “halfbacks” — is seeing Americans who called Florida their retirement home move north — “halfway back” — to places such as Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas, according to a Realtor.com report.
But what’s behind the halfback trend and is it a sign of bigger shifts to come?
Is Florida losing its crown?
An analysis by HireAHelper, a moving company search platform, using data from PGM Solutions, found that in 2025, South Carolina had the highest net gain in adults 65 and older.
While Florida had the most inbound moves of those 65+, at 45,696, the state also had 44,881 outbound moves of this age group, meaning it only saw a net gain of 815.
The analysis also found that many of those moving to South Carolina were coming from “nearby and high-cost states, including North Carolina (2,014 moves to South Carolina), Florida (1,862), New York (1,010), Georgia (982) and Pennsylvania (729).”
After South Carolina, Texas had the second-highest net gain of 65+ movers, at 5,156, followed by North Carolina, Tennessee, Arizona and Idaho.
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Why are patterns shifting?
Many factors may be behind the shift in retirees’ choices for retirement destinations.
Florida has seen a marked increase in severe weather events this decade. Extreme heat and hurricanes could be dissuading some retirees from choosing the Sunshine State.
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While home insurance has been rising across the country, Floridians have seen massive jumps. A study by the Coalition for an Insurable Future found that while home insurance prices increased an average of 38%, Florida saw an increase of 75%.
While that study attributes extreme weather as the reason for insurance increases, there is debate over the exact cause, with some experts blaming litigation and soaring reinsurance costs.
Lauren Reinhardt, a residential broker at Howard Hanna Real Estate Services in Asheville, N.C., told Realtor.com that about 40% of the retirees she works with are from Florida.
“Florida wasn’t what they were promised. The heat has become unbearable, the larger cities feel overdeveloped with infrastructure that hasn’t kept up, and the cost of living — particularly insurance and HOA fees — have started to take a hit on their retirement budgets,” she said.
The cost of living squeeze is being felt by some Floridians. A 2025 survey from Florida Atlantic University found that 80% of Floridian respondents said they were concerned about housing affordability and almost 50% said they had considered moving out of the state due to cost of living.
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Joey Von Nessen, a research economist at the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business, told Realtor.com that so-called halfbacks are a “growing cohort.”
“The bulk of the retirees that are moving into South Carolina are still coming from the Northeast, but we do have a more broad-based group moving into South Carolina, and we are seeing more people move from Florida,” Von Nessen told Realtor.com.
Reinhardt, the North Carolina residential broker, told Realtor.com that the climate there is another big reason people are choosing to relocate.
“North Carolina offers four seasons and this is one of the factors I hear most often,” Reinhardt said.
If you had Florida in mind for when your retirement years arrive, you might consider looking into what some of the “halfback” states have to offer.
“South Carolina has long marketed itself as a retirement destination,” Von Nessen told Realtor.com, “and the nature of our economy also lends itself to having a higher percentage of retirees in South Carolina compared to other Southeastern states, and certainly compared to the U.S. as a whole.”
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Rebecca Payne has more than a decade of experience editing and producing both local and national daily newspapers. She's worked on the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, Metro, Canada's National Observer, the Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press.
