Florida used to be a hot spot for retirees. Now, it's losing them to Southern Appalachia, The Wall Street Journal reported March 13.
Baby boomers have been migrating to North Georgia, East Tennessee, the Carolinas and Western Virginia in droves, according to Hamilton Lombard, a demographer at the University of Virginia who's tracking the trend. Between April 2020 and July 2022, the population in Southern Appalachian counties designated retirement or recreational areas grew by 3.8%, more than six times the national average. Each year since 2020, an average of 328,000 people from other parts of the country migrated to the region — up from an annual net domestic migration of 140,000 in the 2010s.
Many of the newcomers are traveling up from Florida, tired of extreme weather events, heat and humidity, overcrowding and rising costs. They find lower living expenses, taxes and hurricane risks in Appalachia.
But the region's infrastructure isn't equipped to handle the influx, according to the Journal. The new population is wealthier and demands increased services, driving up costs and creating a need for more affordable housing for the workers who serve them. Local governments are also working to expand broadband, water and wastewater, roads, and healthcare.
Dawson County (Ga.) Manager Joey Leverette told the Journal that medical calls to elder care facilities are increasingly taking up resources. County officials have considered splitting staff to dedicate some to just emergency calls, as the public safety budget — including fire and emergency medical services — rose 16% from 2023 to 2024. The area plans to construct six new medical facilities.
Another county commissioner, Chris Gaines, told the Journal he's trying to manage the growth "without changing what makes us desirable in the first place."