One Dallas-Fort Worth city is home to the most industrious senior citizens in the U.S. According to an analysis by website LLC.org, the city of Irving came out on top of the list of "Cities with the Most Working Seniors."
Nearly a third of Irving's senior citizens are still hard at work: Out of a total of 23,215 seniors (over 65) in Irving, more than 6,800 are still employed, or 29.3 percent of Irving's senior population. The median income of a senior household in Irving is $58,965.
The site examined the percentage of seniors aged 65 and over who were actively employed within the last 12 months, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2022 American Community Survey, where the most recent data was available, in the 170 most populous cities in the U.S.
Irving also had the fifth largest increase in employed seniors in a year-over-year comparison from 2021 to 2022. Nearly 4,600 seniors were employed in Irving in 2021, which shows a 48.5 percent growth rate to the current total of 6,805 employed seniors.
Irving previously ranked No. 29 in a similar 2023 employment study by business website ChamberofCommerce.org. At the time, 5,273 seniors in Irving were still actively employed, or 25.1 percent of the city's entire senior population.
Plano was not far behind Irving, coming in at No. 3 on this list, with the third highest number of working seniors nationwide. More than 11,400 seniors in Plano are still working out of a total 41,479, or 27.6 percent of the senior population. However, Plano seniors are better paid: The median income of a senior household in Plano is much higher than Irving's, at $71,118 annually.
Irving and Plano landed in the top three with the greatest number of employed seniors in the country.LLC.org
The study cited the rapid growth of Dallas-Fort Worth as the main reason why seniors have continued to punch the clock well past their retirement age. But as most Dallasites already know, a steep increase in the city's cost of living (thanks to the region's growth) is also to blame.
"In terms of senior population growth, the Dallas suburbs of Plano and Irving grew by 17.7 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively," the report's author wrote. "This growth has brought opportunities for seniors to continue working past retirement age."
Dallas has less working seniors now than it did in previous years: The city came in at No. 3 on the same list in 2023, but in 2024, it dropped to No. 14, with over 35,000 seniors still clocking in every day, versus 44,332 last year.
Arlington ranked at No. 19, with about one in four seniors are still working in the city. More than 10,300 seniors are still employed in Arlington out of a total 44,487.
Here's how other North Texas cities fared with their share of working seniors:
- No. 26 – Frisco (22.8 percent of seniors still employed)
- No. 33 – McKinney (22.5 percent)
- No. 43 – Garland (21.9 percent)
- No. 67 – Fort Worth (20.5 percent)
- No. 76 – Grand Prairie (20 percent)
Seniors opting to work past retirement age is a trend that has continued to grow throughout the last several years.
The report reminds seniors that the longer they can postpone retiring, the better.
"Even though most Americans can start receiving Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62, benefits will increase the longer you continue to work, according to the Social Security Administration," the report said. "Also, consider whether you want to work full-time or part-time... For those looking to increase their retirement savings, working full time might be a better option."
For North Texas seniors who do want to put up their work boots for good and relocate to a new city, they'd be better off moving to Fort Worth, which had the the eighth highest influx of retirees out of all major U.S. cities. But for seniors who would prefer a quieter retirement era, seven small towns – like Comfort, Fredericksburg, and New Braunfels – were recently designated the best places to retire in the Texas Hill Country in 2024.
The top 10 U.S. cities with the most working seniors are:
- No. 1 – Irving, Texas
- No. 2 – Salt Lake City, Utah
- No. 3 – Plano, Texas
- No. 4 – Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- No. 5 – Irvine, California
- No. 6 – Lexington, Kentucky
- No. 7 – Nashville, Tennessee
- No. 8 – Austin, Texas
- No. 9 – Hollywood, Florida
- No. 10 – Washington, D.C.
The full report can be found on llc.org.
