It really isn't a surprise that 10 of the top 25 counties with large populations of citizens over 65 years old are in Florida. What's surprising is that according to the 1990 census, the county with the largest percentage of citizens over 65 years old is Llano, Texas where 34.1 percent of the population are senior citizens.
The senior population in this country has grown from one in 25 citizens more than 65 at the turn of the century to one in eight in 1994. At the same time, the median age of all citizens in the country has risen from 20 years old in 1860 to 34 years old in 1994.
The Census Bureau projects that by the year 2010, one in five citizens will be over 65 years old, with most of the increase occurring between 2010 and 2030 when the majority of the baby boomers reach 65. However, the age group that is growing the most rapidly is the group above age 85. Members of this age group increased by 274 percent between 1960 and 1994 at the same time that the population of the country grew only 45 percent. It is estimated that by 2050 there will be more than 19 million people over 85 years old, compared to three million in 1994.
In the early days of this country, people lived about 35 years. By 1950, the average life expectancy in the United States was 47 years, and by 1991 it had risen to 76 years. Once baby boomers reach 65 years old, they can expect to live 17 more years.
The states with the highest populations also have the highest numbers of senior citizens. California has nearly 3.3 million seniors, and New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and New Jersey all have more than one million citizens over the age of 65. However, Florida, where seniors make up 19 percent of the population, and Pennsylvania, where they represent 16 percent, are states with the highest concentration of seniors.
Following them are North Dakota and Nebraska, both Farm Belt states, which, like Pennsylvania, have a large percentage of senior citizens because of "out-migration" of young people. Florida has the largest percentage of senior citizens in the nation because of the enormous immigration of retirees.
(Research News was written by Jacqueline
Byers, research director.)
| County | Percent of Population |
| Llano, Texas | 34.1 |
| Charlotte, Fla. | 33.8 |
| Highlands, Fla. | 33.5 |
| Pasco, Fla. | 32.3 |
| Sarasota, Fla. | 32.2 |
| Sierra, N.M. | 31.5 |
| Citrus, Fla. | 31.3 |
| Hernando, Fla. | 30.7 |
| Elk, Kan. | 29.7 |
| Keweenaw, Mich. | 29.4 |
| McIntosh, N.D. | 29.3 |
| Baxter, Ariz. | 29.2 |
| Pawnee, Neb. | 28.6 |
| Hickory, Mo. | 28.2 |
| Manatee, Fla. | 28.1 |
| Smith, Kan. | 28.0 |
| Republic, Kan. | 27.8 |
| Hooker, Neb. | 27.7 |
| Lake, Fla. | 27.5 |
| McPherson, S.D. | 27.5 |
| Martin, Fla. | 27.4 |
| Furnas, Neb. | 27.4 |
| Indian River, Fla. | 27.3 |
| Sharp, Ariz. | 27.2 |
| Hamilton, Texas | 27.2 |