Here s What It s Like to Retire in Rural America – WSJ

Older Americans are leaving expensive cities and suburbs to retire in the country.

The move to remote mountain and lake areas is helping reverse a long decline in the rural population. From April 2020 to July 2023, the rural counties retirees flocked to grew 4% versus less than 1% for rural America as a whole, said Kenneth Johnson, a demographer at the University of New Hampshire.

Baby boomers often find that their retirement savings goes further and lasts longer in the country, though rural life comes with challenges, too.

Doctors and nurses might be in short supply. Winters can be harsh and grocery stores a long drive away. And shoveling driveways or stacking firewood requires either good health or good help.

These seven retirees say the trade-offs are mostly worth it.

via www.wsj.com