The Towns In New York Where Retirees Are Moving To
Most older New Yorkers who move to a new county never leave the state. Census Bureau estimates for 2020 to 2024 show that two out of every three residents 65 and older who arrived in a New York county within the previous year came from elsewhere in the state. Statewide, just 1.4% of older residents had made such a move, but in Victor, Great Neck, and Ithaca, that share was four to five times higher. Other towns attracting older newcomers are spread across Long Island, the Hudson Valley, the Capital Region, and the Finger Lakes.
These arrival figures capture actual moves, rather than simply counting longtime residents who have turned 65. New York still sends more older households to other states than it receives, about 28,200 compared with 14,700 in 2022 to 2023. But for those living in New York, Social Security is not taxed, and residents age 59½ and older can exclude up to $20,000 in qualifying pension and annuity income from state taxes.
Ithaca
Ithaca stands apart because its older newcomers mostly cross state lines. Of the 190 newcomers 65 and older who moved in from beyond Tompkins County within a year, 182 came from another state. The city's older population grew by about 1,300 between the 2015 to 2019 and 2020 to 2024 surveys, more than twice the number of locals who were in their early 60s at the start, so aging in place could not have produced the gain on its own.
The city's two colleges are woven into retirement. Kendal at Ithaca, a not-for-profit continuing care community on Triphammer Road, counts retired professors and many graduates of Cornell University and Ithaca College among its residents, and Ithaca College students teach computer classes on site. Downtown, Lifelong on West Court Street hosts classes, fitness programs, Medicare counseling, and tax help for anyone 50 and older. Cayuga Medical Center, at the south end of Cayuga Lake, has 212 beds, a 24-hour emergency department, and a certified stroke center.
Victor
Older newcomers arrive in Victor at five times the state rate. The latest survey found that 7.3% of the town's 65-and-older population had moved in from another county within a year, and nine in 10 of them came from elsewhere in New York. Its 65-and-older population grew 27.4%, about twice the statewide pace.
The Ontario County town has built up the services that population uses. Legacy at Fairways on High Street has independent living apartments and villas around a nine-hole golf course. Rochester Regional Health opened its Victor Medical Campus in August 2024 with cardiology and orthopedic urgent care. Victor Parks and Recreation hosts monthly senior luncheons and lunch trips, and a hiking club meets at the library every Wednesday morning.
Great Neck
Great Neck's older arrivals are overwhelmingly New Yorkers. Of the 161 newcomers 65 and older who moved into the village from another county within a year, 149 came from elsewhere in the state, and together they make up 6.9% of the age group, nearly five times the state rate. The village's 65-and-older population now stands at 2,334.
Great Neck is already organized around them. The Great Neck Senior Center on Grace Avenue serves lunch on weekdays and fills its calendar with line dancing, memoir writing, a Chinese chorus, and Mandarin and Cantonese karaoke. The Town of North Hempstead's Project Independence calls itself the first aging-in-place program sponsored by a local government in New York State. North Shore University Hospital, in nearby Manhasset, houses the Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital.
Kingsbury
Kingsbury, the town that includes the village of Hudson Falls on the Hudson River, grew its older population 56.6% between the surveys, to 2,759. That gain of about 1,000 is larger than the number of locals who were in their early 60s at the start, so moves, not aging alone, drove the increase. Every recent older arrival came from another New York county.
Most services sit in Hudson Falls, about 55 miles north of Albany. The Senior Center of the Kingsbury and Fort Edward Area, on Oak Street, opens weekdays to anyone over 50 and doubles as a county lunch site. Earl Towers rents 76 one-bedroom senior apartments near the village park, and Glens Falls Hospital, with its stroke center and C.R. Wood Cancer Center, is a short drive west.
Waterford
Waterford stands where the Mohawk River meets the Hudson, and its older population is growing about four times as fast as the state's. The 65-and-older count rose 52.2% between the surveys, to 1,833, a gain larger than the number of locals who were in their early 60s at the start. All 74 recent older arrivals came from other New York counties.
The town helps older locals get around. The Waterford Community Senior Center on Second Street operates a Wednesday grocery bus, a medical transport van, and monthly meetings, and Van Schoonhoven Square rents affordable apartments to tenants 62 and older. Peebles Island State Park is at the confluence, and the Waterford Flight of five Erie Canal locks climbs about 170 feet in a little over a mile. For serious emergencies, Albany Medical Center operates the sole Level 1 trauma center in northeastern New York.
Troy
Troy, the Rensselaer County seat and home of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, shows that older movers are choosing small cities as well as small towns. Its 65-and-older population grew 20.7%, to 6,791, but locals aging in place could account for much of that. The stronger evidence is in the arrivals. Each year, about 250 older New Yorkers and out-of-staters move to Troy from other counties, 2.6 times the state rate, and nearly nine in 10 come from elsewhere in New York.
The city has housing built for that stage of life. The Eddy Memorial campus on Burdett Avenue combines Beechwood independent living, enriched housing, and skilled nursing with memory care, and Samaritan Hospital nearby has cardiac catheterization and cancer care. Hudson Valley Community College lets anyone 60 and older audit credit courses without tuition, space permitting.
Red Hook
Red Hook's older newcomers are split between New Yorkers and newcomers from other states. Of the 103 newcomers 65 and older who moved in from another county or state within a year, 59 came from elsewhere in New York and 44 from another state. That is 4.8% of the age group, more than three times the state rate.
Bard College gives the Dutchess County town a resource for retirees. Its Lifetime Learning Institute teaches classes for older learners on campus and online. Since 2018, the county Office for the Aging has operated its Senior Friendship Center inside the Red Hook Community Center on Fisk Street, with a weekday meal. Northern Dutchess Hospital in neighboring Rhinebeck has an ambulatory surgery center, and the Tivoli Bays trails overlook the river in the northwest corner of the county.
Philipstown
Most of Philipstown's older newcomers come from out of state. Of the 71 newcomers 65 and older who moved in within a year, 52 crossed a state line. Nearly a quarter of the Putnam County town's residents are now 65 or older.
The town's senior hub is in Cold Spring, where the Philipstown Friendship Center opened in December 2018 on the former Butterfield Hospital site, serving a hot weekday lunch and wellness classes. NewYork-Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital, a 128-bed hospital with a cardiac catheterization lab and the Cheryl R. Lindenbaum Cancer Center, is a short drive south in Cortlandt Manor. Hudson Highlands State Park Preserve spreads across more than 8,000 acres with more than 70 miles of trails.
Warwick
Nearly one Warwick village resident in three is 65 or older, against 17.9% statewide. Newcomers add to that, and more of them come from other states than from elsewhere in New York, with 49 of the 83 older arrivals who arrived within a year crossed a state line.
Warwick Grove, a 55-and-older community of about 215 homes on Cropsey Street in this Orange County village, has a neighborhood center, a pool, and an activities director who organizes trips. Town senior clubs meet weekly at the Warwick Senior Center on Kings Highway. St. Anthony Community Hospital, a 60-bed hospital in Warwick, shares its campus with the 120-bed Schervier Pavilion nursing facility. Each October, Applefest fills the village streets, as it has since 1989.
East Hampton
About 240 newcomers 65 and older move to East Hampton each year from other counties and states, about six in 10 of them from elsewhere in New York. More than one resident in five is now 65 or older, and with the 65-and-older count growing at about the state's pace, those arrivals help the town's older population continue rising.
Stony Brook Medicine opened a 24-hour emergency department with imaging on Pantigo Place in 2025. The East Hampton Senior Center on Springs Fireplace Road serves a hot weekday lunch and has a walking track, and the town operates Meals on Wheels and senior transportation. Homes on the Suffolk County East End carry a median value of $1,178,500, and the town lists 127 affordable apartments for tenants 62 and older at Windmill Village and St. Michael's.
Batavia
Batavia, the Genesee County seat halfway between Buffalo and Rochester, pulls in older newcomers at twice the state rate. The latest survey counted 88 newcomers 65 and older who had moved in from another county or state within a year, and about seven in 10 came from elsewhere in New York.
The city's former St. Jerome Hospital now houses Jerome Senior Apartments, with one- and two-bedroom units for tenants 55 and older. United Memorial Medical Center on North Street has 131 beds, a state-designated stroke center, the Lipson Cancer Institute, and a joint replacement center. The Genesee County Office for the Aging operates its programs at 2 Bank Street.
Where New York's Older Movers Are Heading
Saratoga, Putnam, and Dutchess counties recorded some of New York's fastest growth in Medicare enrollment among residents 65 and older between 2020 and 2025. As these populations grow, access to senior housing, transportation, and medical care becomes increasingly important. For anyone considering a move, home prices are only part of the cost. New York's median annual property tax is $6,582, though Enhanced STAR and the senior citizens exemption can lower it for eligible homeowners.
