Bradley Windrow, a retired truck driver who’s now writing books and articles on various aging topics, has created a resource page on his web site that features some of the most comprehensive government and private-sector data on America’s aging population.
The table of contents includes 17 different topic areas, including senior population size, growth and trends; living arrangements; family structure; where seniors live; retirement savings preparedness, etc.
By the numbers: Citing Census Bureau data, Windrow reports that in 2022, half of all Americans aged 65 and older lived in just nine states:
- California (6.2 million)
- Florida (4.8 million)
- Texas (4.0 million)
- New York (3.6 million)
- Pennsylvania (2.5 million)
- Ohio (2.2 million)
- Illinois (2.2 million)
- North Carolina (1.9 million)
- Michigan (1.9 million)
Additionally, Georgia, New Jersey, Virginia, Arizona, Washington, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin, Maryland, and South Carolina each had over 1 million residents aged 65 and older in 2022.
The big picture: While urban areas are home to the vast majority of the total population and contain 47.4 million adults aged 65 and older, their seniors represent only 16.4 percent of the urban population.
In contrast, rural areas, with a much smaller total population, have a higher concentration of seniors, with 20.3 percent of their residents aged 65 and older. These statistics underscore the more advanced aging profile of rural communities, which has significant implications for healthcare access, transportation, and local support services.
