Seniors Have Made Florida’s Southwest Coast America’s Richest Retirement Market

Did I mention there's no state income tax?

Seniors Have Made Florida’s Southwest Coast America’s Richest Retirement Market

Retired homeowners in the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton area are sitting on more than $100 billion in home equity

By Jessica Flint, WSJ

| Video and photography by Tina Russell for WSJ

Nov. 12, 2026 7:00 pm ET

Along Florida’s southwest Gulf Coast across Sarasota and Manatee counties, the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton area is the U.S.’s wealthiest retiree real-estate market, based on total real-estate wealth of homeowners aged 65 and over, according to Realtor.com. The region spans from laid-back Bradenton in the north to rapidly growing North Port in the south. Culture-rich Sarasota is in the middle. “In North Port alone, homeowners 65 and older hold an estimated $102 billion in housing value,” says Anthony Smith, a senior economist with Realtor.com. (News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, also operates Realtor.com.) Buyers descend on this area for housing variety, from golf communities and age-qualified enclaves to canal-front single-family homes and master-planned developments equipped for age-in-place living, said Nikki Taylor, a Douglas Elliman real-estate agent.

The Draw

Bradenton has relaxed coastal living, direct boating waterways and easy access to Anna Maria Island without Sarasota’s premium price tag. Its median sale price was $319,778 in October, according to Redfin.

North Port’s median listing sale price was $339,838 in September, according to Redin. It’s Sarasota County’s largest and fastest-growing city, yet remains only 20% built-out with abundant green buffers. It also has the state’s only public warm-water mineral spring and parts of the master-planned hub of Wellen Park, home to the Atlanta Braves spring training complex.

A cultural heavyweight just down the road

With a median listing price of $679,527 in October, according to Redfin, Sarasota serves as the region’s arts capital, home to the Ringling museum, the Sarasota Opera and Sarasota Ballet. Residents in neighboring towns can live at a lower price point while remaining an easy 20- to 45-minute drive from a cultural district.