Carrollton, a North Dallas suburb of roughly 130,000 residents, has quietly stepped into the spotlight as Texas’ top hotspot for adults on the brink of retirement, and several other D-FW suburbs are not far behind. A new national roundup shows a tight cluster of older, often well-paid households in North Texas neighborhoods, a demographic tilt that is already reshaping what local shops sell, how health providers staff up, and how city budgets get balanced. The SmartAsset analysis defines “pre-retirees” as people aged 55 to 64, the group most likely to rethink spending and housing as they move into retirement. For Carrollton and its neighbors, the study reads less like a forecast and more like a snapshot of who is already there.
According to SmartAsset, people aged 55 to 64 account for about 14.29% of Carrollton’s population, the ninth highest share in the country and the largest in Texas. The study also pegs the median household income for Carrollton pre-retirees at roughly $121,115, a signal that many of those households sit near the top of the local earnings ladder.
The Dallas Morning News notes that the SmartAsset ranking leaves a clear footprint across North Texas. Mesquite, Plano and McKinney all show elevated shares of 55 to 64-year-olds among Texas cities, while Pasadena appears farther down the statewide list. Taken together, that pattern makes D-FW the dominant Texas presence on the national chart, not just a handful of scattered hot spots.
What This Means For Neighborhoods And City Budgets
“Many people change their budget, lifestyle, and even location when they enter retirement – generally around age 65 – which may impact the local business demand mix and tax revenues alike,” Jaclyn DeJohn wrote in a note for SmartAsset. On the ground, that can look like stronger demand for health care, personal services and leisure, while appetite for big ticket retail or more family-oriented housing softens. The SmartAsset data also shows a meaningful share of these pre-retiree households are high earners, which can keep discretionary spending healthy even as day-to-day priorities shift.
Migration And The Broader Economic Picture
Migration trends are helping cement D-FW’s demographic heft. U-Haul ranks the Dallas-Fort Worth area as a top growth metro, and its one-way moving data show steady inflows from other states. At the same time, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas has warned that Texas job growth cooled last year, a reminder that migration and local demographics do not always move in lockstep with statewide employment trends. The combination of persistent in migration alongside a large, aging local cohort helps explain why suburbs continue to draw interest from developers and service providers even in a softer jobs climate…