{"id":6767,"date":"2026-07-09T04:03:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T04:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=6767"},"modified":"2026-07-09T04:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T04:03:10","slug":"why-americans-are-flocking-to-this-florida-retirement-hot-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=6767","title":{"rendered":"Why Americans are flocking to this Florida retirement hot spot"},"content":{"rendered":"

A community on Florida’s Gulf Coast has seen a large influx of new residents from the Midwest<\/u> who are driving the area’s rapid growth.<\/p>

Read more New ranking shows the top cities for renters in America<\/a><\/p>

The population of Sarasota County, Florida<\/u>, has grown 12.4% over the five years leading up to April 2025, according to Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR).<\/p>

Midwesterners have flocked to the community for a permanent move as they approach or begin retirement, following the path taken by many of the region’s snowbirds who relocate to the warmer climate during cold Midwest winters.<\/p>

“The surge of Midwesterners into Sarasota reflects a confluence of factors that have been building for decades, including the natural I-75 corridor, the Gulf’s calmer and more accessible beaches and a cultural tempo that feels closer to the Midwest than Miami’s intensity does,” Realtor.com<\/u> senior economist Hannah Jones told FOX Business.<\/p>

<\/div>

SILICON VALLEY ELITE SHIFT RECORD WEALTH TO BUILD FLORIDA’S NEW ‘TECH CAPITAL’<\/u><\/strong><\/p>

While the uptick in Midwesterners to the region began before the COVID-19 pandemic<\/u>, the economic disruption caused by the pandemic helped accelerate the trend as remote work made it easier for those still in the workforce to relocate.<\/p>

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Florida’s population surge intensified during the COVID pandemic when its economy remained relatively open compared with other states. (Zak Bennnett\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p> <\/div><\/div>

“What accelerated that long-standing pattern was the pandemic, which untethered buyers from their offices and gave them both the means and the motivation to make a move they might have otherwise saved for retirement,” Jones said.<\/p>

Data from the Census Bureau showed that about 1,585 people from Michigan relocated to Sarasota County<\/u> from 2018 to 2022, while other Midwestern states weren’t far behind. Illinois contributed 1,399 transplants, and Ohio added another 1,282.<\/p>

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HOUSING AFFORDABILITY UNLIKELY TO RETURN TO MORE AFFORDABLE LEVELS OF THE PAST, ECONOMIST SAYS<\/u><\/strong><\/p>

Florida’s BEBR data showed a net influx of 72,493 residents to Sarasota from 2020 to 2025. IRS data showing county-to-county flows from 2022-23 showed about 5,300 Midwesterners relocated to the area and accounted for about 17.5% of incoming residents, making the region the second-largest source of new residents behind the Northeast.<\/p>

The influx of new residents initially overwhelmed Sarasota’s housing market<\/u>, and Jones noted that the “resulting demand wave hit Sarasota hard: Inventory cratered, prices spiked and the market briefly rewarded anyone willing to waive contingencies and close quickly.”<\/p>

INCOME NEEDED TO AFFORD A MEDIAN-PRICED HOME HAS NEARLY DOUBLED SINCE 2020, REPORT FINDS<\/u><\/strong><\/p>

Over time, the market adjusted and home prices in the areas have stabilized such that Sarasota remains in demand despite having a higher median listing price<\/u> of $487,000 in May 2026, compared with nearby cities like Tampa ($400,000) and Cape Coral ($399,000).<\/p>

“The supply response came partly through new construction, but the condo market in particular outran the post-pandemic appetite, leaving that segment softer even as single-family inventory has since tightened back up,” Jones said.<\/p>

“What Sarasota is navigating now is less a retreat than a recalibration. The underlying draw to Sarasota County hasn’t changed, but the market has shifted from one that penalized hesitation to one that rewards it.”<\/p>

Read more Texas Tech University facing lawsuit over \u201cunconstitutional\u201d course review rules<\/a><\/p>

Find more updates on this story at FOXBusiness.com.<\/i><\/p> <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New construction and a softening condo market in this county have stabilized home prices at a $487K median listing despite surging demand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[166,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate","category-u-s"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Americans are flocking to this Florida retirement hot spot - Houston Moving Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=6767\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Americans are flocking to this Florida retirement hot spot - 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