(Bloomberg) -- A popular retirement community in Florida had the fastest population growth of all other U.S. metro areas in recent years as the baby boomer generation entered retirement age.

Population in The Villages, Florida grew 38 percent, from 93,420 to 128,754, in the eight-year span from 2010 to 2018, according to newly released Census data. The Villages metro area shares its name with one of the largest retirement communities in the nation. It’s mostly located in Sumter County, where the median age was 67.4 in 2017, according to Census estimates.

In the past year, there were about 15 deaths for ever 1,000 persons in Sumter County. That ranks 102nd highest of the 3,193 counties the Census provided death rates on for the 12-month period ending July 2018. With a median age of 67, Sumter County has a relatively low death rate compared to other counties in Florida that are younger.

Citrus, Highlands, Charlotte and Union were all counties in Florida with slightly higher death rates than The Villages even though their median age estimate was lower.

In addition to Florida, counties with the highest death rates were varied across states including Alaska, Nevada, New Mexico, Michigan and North Dakota.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shelly Hagan in New York at shagan9@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alex Tanzi at atanzi@bloomberg.net

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