South Carolina counted 1,120,107 Medicare beneficiaries who qualified by age in 2025, up from 941,369 in 2020. By a separate count, the state’s population of 65 and older grew 21.1% between 2020 and 2025, well ahead of the 16.2% national rate. Horry County on the Grand Strand added 34,350 older residents, more than any other county. Smaller gains are landing on Lowcountry barrier islands and in a handful of inland towns.
Federal tax data put the state third, behind Florida and North Carolina, for net arrivals of households headed by someone 65 or older. State law also spares homeowners over 65 who have lived in the state at least a year from property tax on the first $50,000 of a home’s market value. The statewide surge is clear, but the more interesting story is where retirees are actually settling once they arrive.
Aiken, South Carolina
Aiken, also in Aiken County, carries a 65 and older population of about 9,500, up from around 8,200 in the prior five-year estimate. In a single year, 5.4% of the city’s older residents had moved in from another county or state, above the 3.5% statewide rate. More of those arrivals came from other states than from elsewhere in South Carolina.
City parks staff run the Lessie B. Price Aiken Senior & Youth Center, a shared space for older and younger residents. Hopelands Gardens, a 14-acre public garden on Dupree Place, hosts concerts on Monday nights. Each December the city turns the garden into Christmas in Hopelands, an evening event now past its 30th year. Hitchcock Woods covers about 2,100 acres of forest habitat. For medical care, residents turn to Aiken Regional Medical Centers, the city’s hospital.