Baby boomers not only rapidly grew the population and expanded the economy in the decades after they were born — but now their retirement years are having the same effect.
In fact, baby boomers are the reason that Georgetown, Texas, has been the fastest-growing city in the U.S. for three consecutive years. Located just 40 miles north of Austin, seniors are driving population growth as they move into a bustling 55+ community known as Sun City Texas.
More than a quarter (27%) of those residents are 65 or older, according to the Wall Street Journal’s analysis of data from the United States Census Bureau.
The data, which analyzed cities with more than 50,000 residents, showed that Georgetown’s population increased by 11% in 2023, 14% in 2022 and 11% in 2021. Currently, about 17,000 of Georgetown’s 96,000 residents live in Sun City.
As a result, there’s been a significant surge in Georgetown’s economy, thanks to revenue from an abundance of senior-focused leisure activities, from golfing to local concerts.
“It’s like they’re at college, except they don’t have to go to class and they have $3 million in the bank,” Georgetown Mayor Josh Schroeder told the WSJ. “It’s almost like a cruise ship on land.”
