Florida, once the nation's oldest state, is losing some of its gray.
Thanks to a lull in retiree migration and an increase in working-age adults, Florida has dropped three places to become the fifth-oldest state in the nation, according to census data released Thursday.
State budget cuts will begin draining millions of dollars out of the local economy this month as government employees see their paychecks shrink.
The average government worker in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties will lose $1,151 annually as the state, for the first time since 1974, requires workers to help cover their own pension costs.
Florida's population — already among the oldest in the country — is getting even older, but the rest of the nation is not too far behind.
New census data shows Florida's median population was 40.7 in 2010, two years older than in 2000. The increase reflects both the state's continuing allure for retirees, and the aging of the nation's largest generation: the baby boomers.
The conventional wisdom is that booming growth for Florida is as sure as orange blossoms in spring and hurricanes in summer.
But some economists -- armed with fresh anecdotal evidence -- think that, at least in the short term, high insurance rates, high property taxes and heady competition from other retirement states is taking some of the wind out of the Sunshine State's sails.
At a time when the real estate industry is counting on growth to revive the sagging housing market, any slowdown could prove dangerous.
