Americans are retiring later than they used to, and housing prices may be playing a role.
In almost every state, the share of seniors ages 65 and older still in the workforce has grown since 2014, according to an analysis of Census Bureau American Community Survey data by Realtor.com®.
The trend is concentrated in some of the most expensive housing markets, pointing to how rising housing costs (like insurance, property taxes, and maintenance) may be putting pressure on older homeowners to stay in the job market longer.
But Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com, says the pressure runs both ways.
As continued employment allows more would-be retirees to carry these costs, it’s keeping inventory locked up and driving up home prices along with it.
“The prospect of selling often produces less financial relief than expected when the alternative is buying smaller at current prices and rates, and the social cost of relocating is high,” she says. “The result is inventory being held off the market by a segment of owners who, in a different rate environment, would likely have transacted by now."
Why the 65-plus workforce is outpacing population growth
Over the last decade, the number of employed seniors (age 65 and older) has skyrocketed by 52%—vastly outpacing the broader population growth of just 33%, according to the data.
That mirrors a broader demographic shift as life expectancies have increased. Today, a 65-year-old is expected to live two more decades. In the 1960s, it was closer to 15 more years, according to data from the Social Security Administration.
It also mirrors a rise in housing costs. Since 2014, the median sale price of a home has increased over 60%.
The Northeastern affordability trap
The Northeast boasts the highest senior workforce participation rate in the country at 21%. The region also accounts for half of the top 10 states with the highest share of seniors who currently have a job.
New Hampshire takes the top spot with almost 24% of seniors still working, while Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Connecticut all follow closely behind.
The Northeastern corridor is also perhaps the most stark example of how home prices can put pressure on retirement ages and vice versa.
“Regionally, this shows up most clearly in supply-constrained coastal metros where tight inventory, aging ownership demographics, and strong price floors tend to appear together,” says Jones.
To her point, home prices rose 73% in the region from 2014 to 2024. In New Jersey, it was closer to 80%, and in Massachusetts, home prices rose 90%.
Why senior employment is dropping in Frontier states
While almost every state in the country saw a higher percentage of their seniors working in 2024 compared with 2014, six states bucked the trend entirely.
Wyoming and Alaska offer the most stark drops. The Cowboy State saw the share of seniors 65 and older with a job drop over 4 percentage points, while the Last Frontier State saw a drop of just under that threshold.
It may be owed to the dominant industries in these states. Unlike the service or knowledge economies of the Northeast where remote work or desk jobs are plentiful, it can be much harder to age into the workforce when jobs are dominated by heavy industry and harsh climates.
The Sun Belt paradox
States like Florida and Arizona have long been the gold standard for a leisurely retirement, and the data backs it up—seniors there have some of the lowest labor market participation.
During the pandemic, these markets became magnets for equity-rich seniors looking for a change of pace—and that sent prices skyward, Jones says. From 2014 to 2024, home prices jumped 89% in the region.
In hot spots, the change was even more dramatic. In Florida, for example, home prices surged 138%, and in Arizona, they rose 126%.
That pressure is starting to change, though, Jones says.
“We are now seeing some of that inventory return as that population ages out of independent living and new construction activity props up supply, contributing to the buyer-market conditions visible in those metros today,” she says.
Texas is an interesting outlier. Home prices there rose 74%, and its senior employment share jumped from 18.1% in 2014 to 20.3% in 2024.
While that 2.2-point jump seems modest compared with the Northeast, the scale is massive: The raw number of working seniors in Texas exploded by 66.9%.
As housing costs keep potential retirees on the clock and their homes off the market, the American labor pool is likely to continue to shift. That may mean that the golden years are no longer defined by stepping away from work, but by financing the high price of staying put.
Allaire Conte is a senior advice writer covering real estate and personal finance trends. She previously served as deputy editor of home services at CNN Underscored Money and was a lead writer at Orchard, where she simplified complex real estate topics for everyday readers. She holds an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from Columbia University and a BFA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College. When she’s not writing about homeownership hurdles and housing market shifts, she’s biking around Brooklyn or baking cakes for her friends.
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