The Towns In Ohio Where Retirees Are Actually Moving To
Medicare counted 2,291,801 Ohioans 65 and older in 2025, up 12.3% from 2020. Six of the 10 fastest-growing counties border Franklin, Cuyahoga, or Hamilton, led by Madison at 26.8% and Delaware at 26.3%. Carroll and Morgan counties in eastern Ohio grew less than 3%. IRS records show 15,847 filers 65 and older moving between Ohio counties in 2022 to 2023, more than the 10,692 who left the state. Ohio's homestead exemption shields $29,000 of a home's appraised value for owners 65 and older with incomes up to $41,000. In all 12 towns below, the largest stream of newcomers comes from the county next door.
Perrysburg, Ohio
Federal surveyors laid out Perrysburg on the Maumee River in 1816, and the Wood County town took its name from Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. Wood County gains more new residents from Lucas County than from anywhere else. The latest IRS count shows 2,435 people making that move. They were more than a third of all arrivals.
Older newcomers show up too. An estimated 129 residents 65 and older moved to Perrysburg from another county or state in a typical year of the 2020 to 2024 survey. That figure equals 3.3% of the town's older population. Across Ohio, the share is 2.2%.
The Perrysburg Area Senior Center on West Indiana Avenue holds a jam session on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. Fort Meigs, the reconstructed War of 1812 fort on a bluff above the Maumee rapids, charges visitors 60 and older $10 during its April to October season. For hospital care, Mercy Health's Perrysburg Hospital runs a 24-hour emergency department in town.
Avon Lake, Ohio
A coal-fired power plant held the Avon Lake shoreline on Lake Erie from 1926 until it produced its last power in March 2022. In 2026, the Lorain County city opened public talks on what should replace it.
Older arrivals here run well ahead of the state's pace. The Census Bureau's yearly estimate is 338 newcomers past 65, from elsewhere in Ohio or out of state. They equal 6.2% of Avon Lake's seniors, nearly triple the Ohio rate. Out-of-state movers made up 123 of them. For Lorain County as a whole, Cuyahoga County is the top source, with 4,971 people moving over in the 2022 to 2023 tax year.
The fishing pier at Miller Road Park is open year-round, and lake views fill Veterans Memorial Park. Across from the park, the Old Firehouse Senior Center serves a hot lunch on the third Tuesday of each month, free to diners 90 and older. The Avon Lake Women's Chorus rehearses there on Monday mornings from September to May.
North Ridgeville, Ohio
Farther inland in Lorain County, North Ridgeville takes its name from five parallel ridges thought to be former Lake Erie beach lines. The settlement became North Ridgeville in 1829 because another Ohio town already used the name Ridgeville.
The city's Office for Older Adults keeps a full weekly calendar. Taco and trivia fill the first and third Tuesdays, and a $2 soup lunch comes out every Monday at noon. On Tuesday mornings from May to October, the Walking Warriors group covers South Central Park and other local parks. Birders favor Sandy Ridge Reservation, a 526-acre wetland preserve on the state's Lake Erie birding trail.
Census data show an estimated 316 newcomers aged 65 or more arriving each year. That works out to 4.5% of local seniors, roughly double Ohio's 2.2%. Out-of-state movers accounted for 145 of them. City council approved Ridgeville Farms, a 52-home community for people 55 and up that broke ground in 2024 and planned to lease its first homes in early 2026.
Medina, Ohio
Since 1859, band concerts have filled the Public Square in Medina on summer Friday nights. The Medina Community Band still plays free summer Friday concerts in the Uptown Park gazebo.
Medina County's Medicare rolls for ages 65 and up grew 18.1% between 2020 and 2025. The statewide gain was 12.3%. Within the city, the survey count of older residents reached 4,877, up from 3,930 in the previous five-year survey. About 127 of those had relocated from outside Medina County within the past year. Cuyahoga County supplies the county's biggest share of newcomers, 2,638 people in a single tax year.
The senior center that Medina County Senior & Adult Services runs on Northland Drive has its own house band, Leo's Jolly Jammers. Friday brings a house-made meal for $5, and the agency's day trips run from March through December for anyone who signs up. Cleveland Clinic Medina Hospital stands on East Washington Street.
Wadsworth, Ohio
Also in Medina County, Wadsworth pulls older movers at triple the statewide rate. Each year brings an estimated 307 arrivals over 65 from beyond the county line, equal to 6.6% of the town's senior population. Most came from inside Ohio, 264 by the estimate. Summit County sent Medina County 1,225 newcomers in the most recent IRS year, second only to Cuyahoga County.
School Drive's Soprema Senior Center gives free membership to adults 55 and older. Its café opens at 7:30 a.m. on weekdays. A late 2025 newsletter listed a ukulele class and Monday Bunco, plus regular bridge, euchre, and mah jong games.
The Downtown Wadsworth Historic District joined the National Register in August 2024. Each June, the Blue Tip Festival honors the Ohio Match Company, which made its blue-tipped wooden matches in town from 1895 until 1987. A giant blue-tipped match goes on display downtown only for the festival's run.
Twinsburg, Ohio
In 1818, a pair of twin settlers promised six acres for a public square and $20 toward a school if the settlement took their name. Twinsburg agreed. The brothers now share a single grave in Locust Grove Cemetery, and each August the Twins Days festival draws what organizers call the world's largest annual gathering of twins.
Summit County takes in more people from Cuyahoga County than from any other place, 3,517 in one year of IRS records. Census estimates put the number of seniors relocating to Twinsburg from outside Summit County at 187 a year. Those movers make up 4.5% of the city's older population, about twice the state figure.
The Twinsburg Senior Center sits on Ravenna Road. Glenwood Square Senior Apartments rents to tenants 55 and over. Liberty Park is the largest natural area that Summit Metro Parks manages. Its Liberty Park Nature Center is specially designed for visitors with low vision.
Aurora, Ohio
Aurora bought Geauga Lake and 48 acres of the former SeaWorld grounds in September 2024 for about $5.3 million. The city set October 2026 as the opening month for the first phase of Aurora Park at Geauga Lake. Plans for that phase call for a pier, a kayak launch, and the old SeaWorld clock.
Summit County is Portage County's top source of newcomers, at 2,396 in the newest IRS tally. Cuyahoga County comes next with 1,151. Survey estimates show 238 seniors settling in Aurora each year from other counties and other states. They amount to 5.6% of local residents past 65, more than double the state rate.
Residents past 65 ride the city's transportation program free anywhere inside Aurora on weekdays. Birders know the Aurora Sanctuary State Nature Preserve, which its Audubon stewards call the oldest bird sanctuary in Ohio. In 1904, Aurora's cheese factories shipped four million pounds, a single-year record for the nation at the time.
Kirtland, Ohio
Forest preserve and parkland cover more than a fifth of Kirtland, a Lake County city whose landforms include Gildersleeve Mountain and the East Branch of the Chagrin River. At Holden Arboretum on Sperry Road, guests 60 and up pay $13 on Tuesdays. Nearby, Penitentiary Glen Reservation owes its name to a gorge so deep that climbing out felt like escaping a prison.
Lake County draws its largest group of newcomers from Cuyahoga County, 3,175 of 7,859 arrivals in a year of federal filings. Kirtland's older arrivals come to 59 a year in Census estimates, equal to 3.1% of its older residents against 2.2% statewide. In June 2026, the council cleared Loustown, 10 condos aimed mainly at buyers aged 55 or more, priced at about $500,000 each.
The Kirtland Senior Center charges $10 a year and welcomes nonresidents. Members get bocce courts and chair volleyball. The Kirtland Temple gives guided tours without reservations. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints bought it in 2024 as part of a $192.5 million deal.
Pataskala, Ohio
No other place on the globe carries the name Pataskala, according to the Licking County visitors bureau. The name comes from the Delaware language and translates as clear or bright water. Pataskala was laid out in 1851, when the railroad reached the spot.
Older residents gather at 12:15 p.m. each weekday for a social lunch that Licking County Aging Partners runs at the West Licking County Family YMCA. Conaway's Trail winds nearly a mile through mature forest at Foundation Park, the city's largest park at 78 acres. The city's seasonal calendar includes an Antique Power Show and a Cookie Walk.
Pataskala's older population grew by nearly half between Census surveys. Estimates put residents 65 and older at 2,973, up from 2,015 in the 2016 to 2020 survey. Of those, about 132 had lived outside Licking County a year earlier. That group is 4.4% of the town's seniors. Franklin County sends Licking County more newcomers than any other, 3,838 in the latest federal tax data.
Beavercreek, Ohio
Membership at the Beavercreek Senior Center passed 2,600 in 2025, after a 60% rise in members and annual visits over five years. The same summer, the center moved its weekday closing time to 4 p.m. and dropped weekend hours. Its senior van makes about 10,000 trips a year to medical appointments, groceries, and hairdressers.
Greene County's Medicare count for people 65 and up rose 13.2% from 2020 to 2025, slightly ahead of the state's 12.3%. In a typical survey year, 308 older Beavercreek residents had lived in a different county or state 12 months before. They make up 3.1% of the city's seniors. Most, 277 by the estimate, came from other Ohio counties. Montgomery County leads Greene County's origins, with 3,690 people in a single IRS year.
The Ashford of Beavercreek opened in January 2024. It combines independent living and assisted living with memory care. Soin Medical Center serves the city from Pentagon Boulevard, and the 15-mile Creekside Trail passes through Beavercreek on its way to Xenia.
Mason, Ohio
Warren County added older residents faster than all but seven Ohio counties. Its Medicare roll of enrollees past 65 climbed 18.4% in five years, against 12.3% statewide. Butler County is the leading origin, with 2,693 people in a recent tax year, and Hamilton County follows at 2,554. By Census estimate, 206 seniors a year arrive in Mason from outside Warren County. They account for 3.7% of its older population.
Two big projects landed. Mercy Health-Kings Mills Hospital opened on Kings Island Drive on January 21, 2024. At Christian Village at Mason, crews broke ground on Sunrise Vista in summer 2024. The project adds 24 homes for independent living, each with three bedrooms and a two-car garage.
Inside the Mason Community Center, the Mason Senior Center keeps weekday afternoon hours for regulars who gather at mahjong tables and in a lounge with a fireplace. Pine Hill Lakes Park holds two fishing lakes, two miles of nature trails, and an arboretum.
Milford, Ohio
At 11.0% a year, the rate of older newcomers to Milford runs five times the state's. An estimated 214 people 65 or older settle there annually from outside Clermont County. Nearly 30% of Milford's residents are 65 or older, compared with about 18% across Ohio. Clermont County's top origin is Hamilton County, which sent 3,769 people in one tax year.
The city lies along the Little Miami River. Eight long-distance routes totaling more than 22,000 miles meet here. Riverwalk Park gives walkers seating areas that face the water. The Promont House Museum fills an 1865 Italianate mansion where Governor John Pattison lived until his death in 1906.
The nonprofit SEM Retirement Communities, named for the Southeastern Ecumenical Ministry, has served older residents around Milford since dedicating SEM Villa in 1972. Its SEM Laurels on Mound Avenue houses adults 62 and older in independent living. At the Miami Township Civic Center, Clermont Senior Services runs a lifelong learning center with tai chi and computer classes.
One County Over
State projections show more Ohioans 65 and older moving out than moving in during every decade through 2050. Within the state, older movers are heading into the ring counties around Ohio's urban cores, while Carroll and Morgan counties barely change. Housing for people 55 and older has won approval or broken ground in Kirtland, North Ridgeville, and Mason, and Mason gained a new hospital in 2024. Senior centers are busier too, and Beavercreek's membership rose 60% in five years.
