You don’t have to live in the Phoenix area very long before you start hearing about snowbirds. Snowbirds aren’t really birds at all.
Snowbirds are people who come to the Phoenix area (and other parts of the Southwest) to escape the harsh winters of their main home. Typically retirees, they use their freedom from the 9 to 5 workplace to escape the cold and snow from northern U.S. states and Canada, and purchase or rent homes in Greater Phoenix.
While not everyone has the same schedule, snowbird season in Greater Phoenix is usually from October or November through March or April. Then they pack up and head back home where the summers are more tolerable.
Snowbird Factoids and Things to Consider
- The term “snowbird” is in fact a nickname name for the Dark-eyed Junco bird. But in terms of people, it’s used to describe a group of seasonal travelers (usually retirees) who migrate to areas with warmer climates during the winter months. The word was first used in 1923. It was used to describe seasonal workers who moved south for the winter months. By 1979 it was commonly used in reference to the large number of retiree tourists who flocked to the south.
- Today the majority of snowbirds are between the ages of 50 and 69: the baby boomers. This generation is known to be very active and they tend to be wealthy, well-educated, and adapt to the snowbird lifestyle very well.
- The assumption that snowbirds are wealthy isn’t always true. Many RVing winter visitors are retired, but they still pick up temporary jobs in order to afford the extra expenses of the snowbird lifestyle.
- Snowbird bloggers are a pretty common thing. Just as young twenty-somethings blog about their travel adventures, so do the retired winter travelers. Of course, these blogs are mostly geared toward retirement-age readers. A few snowbird blogs include:
When the snowbirds are in town, everything seems more crowded, including the streets, highways, restaurants and stores.
- In neighborhoods where there tend to be a lot of snowbirds, there are complaints about drivers. They do tend to be older and drive slower.
- Some RV parks are extremely popular and rely heavily on the revenue they bring in during the winter months
- Younger people complain about the “white hairs” making the lines at Walmart longer, filling up the movie theaters, buying all the Spring Training baseball tickets. Of course, they complain about all older people not just snowbirds. Their day will come too!
- Phoenix area golf courses, stores and restaurants love snowbirds. You can always find someone from Calgary or Minnesota on a golf course or in your favorite restaurant!
- Snowbirds spend money here, pay real estate taxes here, shop here, go to the theater and the symphony here, volunteer here. Some of them may call this their primary home for tax purposes. Other will make sure that they spend less than 180 days here so their residency is not in question.
- I have seen estimates indicating that 400,000 snowbirds come to Arizona each winter.
- After a certain age, a slip on the ice becomes extremely dangerous; shoveling snow and ice is too straining; and the cold weather limits healthy habits like walking and bike riding. Avoiding the winter altogether is a great way to keep up those healthy habits and avoid injuries. There’s way more to it than just keeping up a tan.
- Snowbirds spend the winter in the Phoenix area because, as they say, you don’t have to shovel sunshine!
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