A retirement community (also known at times as a retirement complex) is usually either a planned community (most of the times) or a naturally occurring community for residents that either retired from an active working life or have reached a certain age. A retirement community is different from a retirement house both in size (a retirement house is smaller - usually a single building or a rather small complex) and in that it has "common areas", designed especially for socializing activities. Some retirement communities may be "Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities" (NORC) due to specific demographic developments of certain areas, while others are planned. The planned communities have the advantage of having been specifically designed for that purpose, which means well developed facilities that cater to the residents' needs and interests. These facilities might include golf courses, country clubs or medical facilities. They also provide an increased level of security (protection from potential crime) for their residents. There are over 40,000 such communities in the US alone, with at least over 1000 communities abroad.

A retirement community is not a nursing home, as some people mistakenly still consider it to be. It rather resembles a fixed star resort or a gated community. In plain words, a retirement community is simply a living area designed to suit the needs of people of a certain age. When someone lives in a retirement community, their needs will be usually fully met.
This type of communities are mostly to be found in the United States (especially in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey) and in Canada and Australia (i.e. in areas with a warm climate, but recently they started being developed also around big metropolis, irrespective of the (un)friendliness of the climate).


A retirement community is usually an age-restricted type of community, which means that the community area is usually gated and that membership could be restricted to people that meet a minimum-age requirement. The minimum age restriction is usually 55 for at least one of the residents. Sometimes the minimum age is 60, or even 62, and this threshold may rise as the community ages. This requirement applies for residency as well, which means that younger people or children may not be allowed to reside there. A potential problem with this type of membership arises when the owner passes away and the surviving spouse does not meet the minimum-age criteria for ownership, thus being obligated to sell the house. However, even if in the US the discrimination in housing is illegal, there is a law (The Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995) that allows such communities to restrict ownership to people that meet the minimum-age requirement.

There are three main types of planned retirement communities, according to the amount of healthcare provided: Active, Active/Supportive and Supportive. The active communities are made up of residential houses and have no long term healthcare facilities, while the supportive communities are mainly composed of long term healthcare units. The active/supportive communities are a combination of the previous two types, offering both residential and healthcare facilities; this is why they are also known as "continuing care retirement communities".

In the categories themselves there are many different sub-types of communities. The active communities meet a wide range of desires, abilities and needs, offering active recreation and social interaction with other residents of the community, with the aim of promoting a rich life experience. The following types of communities qualify as being active communities.

There are the Golf Communities, build around golf-courses, but also offering access to other facilities, such as fitness centres, swimming pools, tennis courts, etc. For the ones who like an even more active life style, there are the RV Communities that cater to the needs of the RV enthusiasts and can also accommodate recreational vehicles. One such community might offer activities like dancing, bingo, arts, crafts, movies, live entertainment, etc. There are also the Rental Communities which feature the same facilities in terms of homes and amenities but offer in addition to that mainly short term and/or seasonal rentals; however, annual rentals are possible as well. The facilities offered by these communities are a combination of the previous two types; just to mention a few: indoor and outdoor facilities, arts and crafts, interest groups, golf, spas, tennis, fishing, RV storage, etc.

The active/supportive communities offer facilities that cater to the needs or virtually every type of resident of a senior living community, ranging from independent living and up to skilled nursing care (going through the assisted living stage if required), according to the needs of their residents, taking into account the changing of the needs of their residents over time. A particular individual might start being an independent member of the community and change its status according to his or her needs as time goes by.

The supportive communities (also known as assisted living communities) offer added assistance in the everyday life of their residence, providing for whatever type of need there might arise (for instance, if a particular person is completely independent with the exception that s/he cannot drive, there might be a form of support provided to cater to this need of the resident). However, it should be noted that the level of assistance and the way in which this is provided varies a lot from one supportive community to another. It should be noted as well that the supportive communities are the most numerous to be found in the United States, among all the other retirement communities. The skilled nursing communities fall under this category as well (although they are less frequent that the assisted living ones). They provide care for individuals that cannot take care of themselves any longer, and many include special care services for Alzheimer's patients.

Statistically, at the active retirement communities the average new buyer is around 60 years old; with an annual income that exceeds 35,000USD per year. Most such buyers (actually two thirds) are shown to pay for their retirement homes using the money they got from selling their (previous) house.