Naturally occurring retirement community

A naturally occurring retirement community (NORC; /nɔːrk/) is a term used to describe a community that has a large proportion of residents over 60 but was not specifically planned or designed to meet the needs of seniors living independently in their homes.

NORCs may develop in three different ways:

The demographic term NORC was first coined in the 1980s by Michael Hunt, a professor of urban planning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He defined NORCs as neighborhoods and housing developments, originally built for young families, in which 50 percent of the residents are 60 years or older and have aged in place. Over time, this threshold definition has been adjusted by communities and policymakers to reflect local residential patterns.

For example, in the US, the federal government, through Title IV of the Older Americans Act, recognizes NORCs as communities in which at least 40 percent of the heads of households are older individuals. The State of Indiana defines a NORC as a community in which 50 percent of housing units have heads of household who are 60 years old or older, and/or at least 2,500 heads of household who are 60 years old or older. By contrast, New York City requires that a community must have at least 45 percent of housing units with heads of household 60 years old or older with a minimum count of at least 250 seniors, or that there be at least 500 older adults who are 60 years old or older (regardless of the percentage of housing units).

NORCs are geographically defined either by the dimensions of an apartment building complex or by the boundaries of a neighborhood. While NORCs were first identified in urban settings, they can actually be found in communities large and small, and in all geographic settings. A NORC can generally be categorized as one of three types:

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