JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As Northeast Florida’s population ages, local nonprofits warn that more seniors are struggling to afford housing as rent prices continue to rise faster than retirement incomes.
New data compiled through the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida’s “Catalyst” data hub shows Duval County’s population age 65 and older has grown dramatically over the last decade, increasing from 104,968 residents in 2014 to 156,682 in 2024 — a 49% jump.
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At the same time, affordable housing options for older adults are shrinking.
“There’s been some alarming data points,” Callan Brown, senior vice president of development for the Nonprofit Center, said. “We know that more than half of our older adult renters are now spending 30% of their income on rent.”
The Catalyst data found 53% of older renter households in Duval County now spend at least 30% of their income on housing, while 26% spend more than half of their income on rent.
For many seniors, the financial strain has become overwhelming.
“They raised it by $300 and there was just no way I could afford it,” one senior connected with ElderSource said. “I’m on a fixed income. I have no other means of support.”
Organizations serving older adults say those stories have become increasingly common as rents rise and incomes fail to keep pace.
Since 2014, median gross rent in Duval County has increased 57%, rising from $941 to $1,475 a month, according to Catalyst data. During that same period, median income for older adults increased by 43%, from $37,680 to $54,085.
“It helped validate what we see every day through our helpline,” said Tameka Gaines Holly, chief operations officer for ElderSource. “To see the increase in calls for housing-related needs, we were able to see that demonstrated in the data that the Catalyst program put together.”
ElderSource operates a helpline for seniors and caregivers across Northeast Florida, helping connect residents with housing assistance, food, prescriptions and utility support.
“They’re calling about rent, rent increases,” Gaines Holly said. “A lot of times their rent is increasing and so they are at risk of being evicted and displaced.”
She said many seniors are also struggling to cover essentials because so much of their income is going toward housing.
“They are needing monies for prescriptions, for food, for utilities,” Gaines Holly said. “You’re dealing with a population that has fixed incomes. So as the prices go up, their income is staying the same.”
The data also shows that renting among older adults is becoming increasingly common in Northeast Florida.
In 2024, more than 23,000 households led by adults 65 and older were renters in Duval County, a 71% increase from 2014. By comparison, older homeowner households increased 42% during the same period.
Brown said that the shift creates new challenges for seniors competing in an already expensive rental market.
“Older adults are moving towards renting instead of owning their own homes,” Brown said. “And we know also that access to rent in this area, Northeast Florida, is very competitive.”
Advocates also point to a troubling increase in homelessness among older adults. Between 2023 and 2024, the number of people age 64 and older experiencing homelessness in the Jacksonville area rose from 71 to 94, according to the report.
“It’s someone’s grandmother, someone’s mom,” Gaines Holly said. “You have people that are at work in the business community that have to think about what’s going to happen with my mom if she loses where she lives.”
Nonprofits, including the Nonprofit Center, ElderSource, Habitat for Humanity, the Center for Independent Living and Sulzbacher are now working together to identify solutions to address the growing crisis.
Advocates say solving the issue will require more investment from local and state governments in affordable housing designed for seniors living on fixed incomes.
“We need the government behind us to understand where the priorities are for investing city dollars, state dollars, to help us build communities that are available for older adults who are income-constrained,” Gaines Holly said.
Click here for more information about ElderSource. ElderSource’s helpline can be reached at 1-888-242-4464.