Really? People Leaving Colorado To Retire, but Not This NoCo City

With all the talk of everyone from everywhere else moving here to Colorado, it's somewhat surprising to learn the fact that the state actually has had a net loss of retirees recently, with more retirement age people moving out of the state than moving in.

SmartAsset's 2023 study of Where Retirees Are Moving places Colorado 10th on the list of states with a net loss of retirees for the year 2021. California, New York and Illinois lead that list with the most retirees saying "adios" to those states when they're ready for the golden years.

Where are they going? Would you be surprised if I said Florida? Probably not. The state, by far, has the largest net gains of retirees for the year and why not, with the warm weather year round, shuffleboard courts and affordable last minute "Florida Resident Rate" on cruises.

While our own Centennial State has lost more retirees overall than we've gained in recent years, one local Northern Colorado city is a cut above the rest when it comes to people wanting to make their forever homes here. In fact, the city ranks top 20 on the list nationwide of cities with the largest net gain in retirees, even if it wasn't enough to push the state as a whole into the black.

It's Fort Collins. Mesa, Arizona, Henderson, Nevada and San Antonio, Texas are the top three cities in America for retirees in 2021, but Fort Collins is in a respectable spot at #19 with more than three times as many retirees moving here as moving away.

Can we get a shuffleboard league going, at least? I love shuffleboard.