The Towns In New England Where Retirees Are Moving To

New England added more than 400,000 Medicare enrollees aged 65 and older between 2020 and 2025, and they are not spreading out evenly. The fastest growth is in southern New Hampshire and along the Maine coast, while the region's far north and the city of Boston are adding older residents more slowly. Tax records tell the same story. More senior households are leaving Massachusetts and Connecticut for other states than are arriving, while Maine and New Hampshire come out ahead. In short, retirees are heading north and toward the water. New Hampshire, the fastest-growing state of the six, taxes neither wages nor interest and dividend income, which it stopped taxing in January 2025.

York, Maine

York is the first stop for many retirees crossing into Maine, and in the latest Census estimates, every one of its senior newcomers came from out of state. The town added nearly 800 residents 65 and older over four years, and seniors now make up more than a quarter of the population. Many arrivals come from just over the border, in New Hampshire's Seacoast and the Boston suburbs.

It is easy to see the appeal. Nubble Light, perched on a rocky islet off Cape Neddick since 1879, is one of the most photographed lighthouses in New England. Long Sands Beach curves below the village for about 1.5 miles (2.4 km), an easy walk on a flat stretch of sand.

The practical side is covered, too. York Hospital keeps acute care right in town, so routine appointments and emergencies don't require a trip to Portland or Portsmouth. Sentry Hill at York Harbor offers independent living, assisted living, and memory care on one campus, letting residents stay put if their needs change, and the outlets and restaurants of neighboring Kittery are minutes away.

Scarborough, Maine

No town on this list added more seniors than Scarborough, which gained nearly 1,500 residents 65 and older. About two-thirds of its recent senior arrivals came from other states, and many of the rest moved up from York County or in from inland Maine.

Scarborough Marsh, the largest salt marsh in Maine, fills the middle of town with tidal channels and birdlife, and Pine Point Beach runs along its ocean edge. Piper Shores, on the coast, was Maine's first nonprofit lifecare retirement community, meaning residents who buy in are guaranteed access to on-site assisted living and skilled nursing if they need it later, with a predictable monthly fee. Maine Medical Center, the state's largest hospital, is a short drive north in Portland, along with the city's restaurants, theaters, and airport.

Brunswick, Maine

Brunswick draws a different crowd than York. Most of its senior newcomers moved from elsewhere in Maine, and the town added close to 800 older residents over four years.

Services are a big part of the draw. Bowdoin College brings lectures, concerts, and two free museums to a walkable downtown. MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital, a 93-bed full-service hospital, is in town, and its Mid Coast Senior Health campus brings rehabilitation, assisted living, memory care, long-term nursing, and hospice together in one place. Thornton Oaks, a retirement community on 29 wooded acres, sits close to the college and downtown shops. The former Naval Air Station Brunswick, closed in 2011, has been reborn as Brunswick Landing.

Camden, Maine

Little Camden has the highest rate of senior arrivals on this list. Relative to its size, it draws newcomers 65 and older at more than three times the New England rate, and seniors now make up nearly four in ten residents. The town is outpacing its own county, and most of its newcomers moved from elsewhere in Maine, especially neighboring Lincoln and Waldo counties.

Camden's postcard harbor, filled with windjammers in summer, sits at the foot of the Camden Hills. A road and trails climb Mount Battie, where a stone tower looks out over Penobscot Bay. Quarry Hill, a retirement community for adults 55 and older that opened in 2002, offers independent living, assisted living, and memory care, all linked to MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital, the Midcoast's largest community hospital, just next door in Rockport. The Camden Public Library, overlooking the harbor, hosts lectures and community events year-round.

Rochester, New Hampshire

Rochester's senior growth is a homegrown story. The city added more than 600 residents 65 and older, and nearly all of its senior newcomers came from elsewhere in New Hampshire, with Rockingham County, on the Seacoast to the south, sending the most newcomers. Strafford County, which includes Rochester, ranks among the fastest-growing counties for seniors in all of New England.

The Spaulding Turnpike puts Portsmouth and the coast within easy reach, while downtown keeps a small-city feel. Frisbie Memorial Hospital, a 112-bed hospital in the city, serves the Greater Seacoast and southern Maine, and Portsmouth Regional Hospital is about half an hour away. The historic Rochester Opera House anchors the arts calendar downtown.

Goffstown, New Hampshire

Goffstown added more than 500 seniors, almost all of them movers from elsewhere in New Hampshire. Its home county, Hillsborough, draws more newcomers from Middlesex County, Massachusetts, than from anywhere else, part of a steady flow from Boston's northern suburbs into southern New Hampshire.

The town sits along the Piscataquog River beneath the twin Uncanoonuc Mountains, and its biggest advantage for retirees is location. Manchester, New Hampshire's largest city, is right next door, with two major hospitals, Catholic Medical Center and Elliot Hospital. The Hillsborough County Nursing Home is in Goffstown itself, and Saint Anselm College brings lectures and performances to town. Every October, the Giant Pumpkin Regatta sends racers paddling down the river in hollowed-out pumpkins.

Hingham, Massachusetts

While Massachusetts is losing senior households overall, many of the retirees who stay are moving to the South Shore. Hingham added about 900 residents 65 and older, most of them from elsewhere in the state, especially the Boston area and neighboring Norfolk County.

Hingham pairs a historic harbor town with an easy link to the city. World's End, a seaside peninsula with carriage paths designed by Frederick Law Olmsted's firm, juts into Hingham Harbor. The Old Ship Church, built in 1681, still stands near the town center, and commuter ferries run straight to Boston for city days and appointments.

Hingham is also home to Linden Ponds, one of the largest retirement communities in New England. Its campus covers about 108 acres and houses more than 1,400 residents aged 62 and older, with a pool, fitness center, several restaurants, and an on-site medical center staffed by full-time doctors. In 2025, it opened Granite Commons, a new assisted living building. South Shore Hospital is just over the line in Weymouth.

Mashpee, Massachusetts

On Cape Cod, Mashpee gained nearly 900 seniors, and people 65 and older now make up about a third of the town. Most of its senior newcomers moved down from elsewhere in Massachusetts, led by the Boston-area counties of Middlesex and Norfolk.

Mashpee is the home of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, and the Mashpee River winds through protected woodland to Popponesset Bay. South Cape Beach State Park lines the town's shore on Nantucket Sound. The Mashpee Senior Center, run by the town's Council on Aging, offers yoga, art classes, a travel club, and book and movie discussions, along with blood pressure clinics, hearing tests, a Parkinson's support group, and free counseling on health insurance. Falmouth Hospital is the nearest full-service hospital.

Brewster, Massachusetts

Brewster has one of the oldest populations on this list, with seniors making up nearly 40% of residents. Unlike neighboring Mashpee, it draws most of its senior newcomers from outside Massachusetts, and it added more than 700 older residents over four years.

At low tide, the Cape Cod Bay flats stretch so far offshore that walkers can wander out across the sand. Nickerson State Park covers nearly 2,000 acres of ponds and pine woods, the paved Cape Cod Rail Trail runs through town for flat, car-free walks and bike rides, and the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History sits along historic Route 6A. The town's Council on Aging runs senior fitness classes and Meals on Wheels, and follows a five-year age-friendly action plan. Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis is the region's main hospital.

Old Saybrook, Connecticut

Connecticut loses more senior households than it gains, but Old Saybrook bucks the trend. Most of its senior newcomers came from outside the state, and the town added more than 600 residents 65 and older, who now make up nearly a third of the population. Within Connecticut, the biggest flows into the area come from greater Hartford and New Haven.

The town sits where the Connecticut River meets Long Island Sound, with Lynde Point Lighthouse marking the river's mouth. The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, named for the actress who lived in town, stages concerts and films on Main Street, and Amtrak and Shore Line East trains stop at the station for trips to New Haven, New York, or Boston. On Main Street, The Estuary, a nonprofit senior center, serves lunches, runs health screenings and support groups, and delivers Meals on Wheels across nine shoreline towns. It also drives older residents to medical appointments.

Southbury, Connecticut

Southbury posted the second-largest senior gain on this list, adding nearly 1,000 residents 65 and older, and seniors now make up a third of the town. Most newcomers moved from elsewhere in Connecticut, particularly the Hartford, Bridgeport, and New Haven areas.

Much of that growth has a long history behind it. Heritage Village, one of the state's best-known adult communities, has been welcoming retirees since the 1960s and has grown to more than 2,500 condominium homes. For residents who want care on site, Pomperaug Woods offers continuing care in town. Southford Falls State Park and the Audubon Center at Bent of the River protect woods and waterfalls nearby, and Lake Zoar forms the town's western edge.

Tiverton, Rhode Island

Tiverton added about 600 seniors and attracts older newcomers at roughly three times the regional rate. More than half of its recent senior arrivals came from out of state, many from just across the line in the Fall River and New Bedford area of Massachusetts.

The town looks west across the Sakonnet River. Fort Barton, a Revolutionary War earthwork, overlooks the water from a hill near the Sakonnet River Bridge, and the crossroads village of Tiverton Four Corners is filled with galleries and shops in historic buildings. The Tiverton Senior Center on Canonicus Street, open to residents 55 and older, serves a $3 lunch on weekdays and fills its calendar with chair yoga, Zumba, ukulele lessons, chorus, mahjong, and bingo, plus blood pressure checks and free Medicare counseling. Hospitals in neighboring Fall River are a short drive north.

North And To The Coast

New England's older population is growing fastest in southern New Hampshire, along the Maine coast, and on the South Shore and Cape Cod, while the far north and Boston itself are growing more slowly. Massachusetts and Connecticut are losing older households to other states, and Maine and New Hampshire are gaining them. For the fastest-growing counties, such as Rockingham, York, and Cumberland, that means steadily rising demand on hospitals, senior services, and housing in the years ahead.