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The 65 Years and Over Population: 2000 |
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Additional
Topics on the 65 Years and Over Population
Why
Did Census 2000 Ask the Question on Age?
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In 2000, 35.0 million people 65 years of age and over were counted
in the United States.1
This represents a 12.0-percent increase since 1990, when 31.2
million older people were counted.2 Although the number of people
65 years and over increased between 1990 and 2000, their proportion
of the total population dropped from 12.6 percent in 1990 to 12.4
percent in 2000.
This report, part of a series that analyzes population and housing
data collected from Census 2000, provides a portrait of the 65
years and over population in the United States and discusses its
distribution at the national and subnational levels. The report
also highlights comparisons with data from the 1990 census.3
A question on age has been asked since the first census of the
population in 1790, and data on the 65 years and over population
was first published in 1870. The Census 2000 age data were derived
from a two-part question that was asked of all people. The first
part asked for the age of the person, and the second part asked
for the date of birth (see Figure 1).4
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The 65 years and over
population grew slower than the total population.
Census 2000 was the first time in the history of the census
that the 65 years and over population did not grow faster than
the total population. Between 1990 and 2000, the total population
increased by 13.2 percent, from 248.7 million to 281.4 million
people. In contrast, the population 65 years and over increased
by only 12.0 percent.
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Among the older population,
those 85 years and over showed the highest percentage increase.
In 2000, there were 18.4 million people ages 65 to 74 years
old, representing 53 percent of the older population (see Table
1). The 75-to-84-year-olds numbered 12.4 million people (35 percent
of the older population), and those ages 85 and over numbered
4.2 million people (12 percent of the older population). These
age groups represented 6.5 percent, 4.4 percent, and 1.5 percent
of the total population, respectively.
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Table 1. |
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Figure 2. Population 65 Years and Over by Age and Sex: 1990 and 2000.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1;
1990 Census of PopulationDuring the 1990s, the most rapid growth of the older population
occurred in the oldest age groups. The population 85 years and
over increased by 38 percent, from 3.1 million to 4.2 million.
In contrast, the population 75 to 84 years old increased by 23
percent, and the population 65 to 74 years old increased by less
than 2 percent, from 18.1 million to 18.4 million. Within the 65-to-74
age group, the number of people 65 to 69 years old declined by
6 percent, compared with an increase of 11 percent in the number
of people 70 to 74 years old. The changes in the 65-to-74 age group
reflect the relatively low number of births in the late 1920s and
early 1930s, which in turn led to a relatively small number of
people reaching age 65 during the decade of 1990 to 2000. This
trend is expected to reverse as baby boomers (born from 1946 through
1964) reach age 65, starting in 2011.
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Women outnumbered
men in the 65 years and over population.
In 2000, there were 14.4 million men and 20.6 million women
aged 65 and over, yielding a male-female ratio (the number who
were male times 100 divided by the number who were female) of
70 (see Figure 2 and Table 2).5 The male-female ratio drops
steadily with age group. In the 65-to-74 age group, the male-female
ratio was 82; in the 75-to-84 age group, the male-female ratio
was 65, and in the group 85 years and over, the ratio was 41.
The male-female ratio for each age group in the older population
has risen since
1990. In 1990, the ratios were 78, 60, and 39, respectively.
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Table 2. |
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The West and South
regions had the most growth in the total population and in the
older population.
The regional pattern of growth of the older population matched
the regional growth of the total population. Between 1990 and
2000, the West and South regions grew the fastest (click
here to view Table 3).6 The West experienced
the highest percent increase of the older population, at 20 percent,
and the South's older population grew by 16 percent. In contrast,
the older population grew at a much lower rate in the Midwest
(7 percent) and Northeast (5 percent).
Every state's older population grew between 1990 and 2000, ranging
from a 1-percent increase in Rhode Island to a 72-percent increase
in Nevada. After Nevada, the next highest increases in the
older population were found in Alaska (60 percent), Arizona (39
percent), and New Mexico (30 percent). Only the District of Columbia
showed a decline in the 65-years-and-over population.7 Between
1990 and 2000, the older population in the District of Columbia
decreased by 10 percent, or 8,000 people.
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People 65 years and
over represented a smaller proportion of the total population in
2000 than in 1990.
Unlike previous decades, during the 1990s, the proportion of
the population composed of people 65 years and over declined
nationally, in two regions of the country, and in over half of
the states. In the Midwest, the proportion 65 years and over
declined from 13.0 percent of its total population in 1990 to
12.8 percent in 2000, and the proportion in the South declined
from 12.6 percent to 12.4 percent. This proportion remained at
13.8 percent in the Northeast, but in the West, the proportion
of people 65 years and over increased slightly from 10.9 percent
in 1990 to 11.0 percent in 2000.
In over half of the states (29, including the District of Columbia),
the proportion 65 years and over of the total population declined.
Nineteen of these states are in the Midwest and South. The states
with the largest declines in the proportion 65 years and over
were
Oregon, Arkansas, and Idaho, which each declined about 1
percentage point between 1990 and 2000 to proportions of 12.8
percent, 14.0 percent, and 11.3 percent, respectively. Although
Florida continued to have the highest proportion 65 years and
over (17.6 percent), Florida experienced a similar decline in
this proportion since 1990.
A total of 29 states had a proportion of population 65 years
and over that equaled or exceeded the national value of 12.4
percent. Florida's high proportion of population 65 years and
over was followed by Pennsylvania and West Virginia, which had
proportions of 15.6 percent and 15.3 percent of their respective
total populations. Alaska had the lowest proportion 65 years
and over (5.7 percent). Four other states had proportions less
than 10 percent - Texas (9.9 percent), Colorado (9.7 percent),
Georgia (9.6 percent), and Utah (8.5 percent).
California, the most populous state, was also the state with
the largest number of people 65 years and over (3.6 million people).
Following California were Florida and New York, with 2.8 million
and 2.4 million older people, respectively. Alaska had the fewest
number of people 65 years and over, with 36,000 people.
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The proportion
65 years and over in counties followed regional trends.
Figure 3 shows the proportion 65 years and over of each of the country's 3,141
counties and equivalent areas. The broad patterns evident on the map include
a high proportion of people 65 years and over in counties extending through the
Great Plains and south into central Texas. Many of these counties had a proportion
of people 65 years and over that equaled or exceeded the proportion of the older
population in the state of Florida (17.6 percent). The presence of this band
in the Midwest suggests that the trends of out migration of the young and aging-in-place
have continued in this region. A similar band of counties with high proportions
of older people is found in the Northeast region, stretching along Appalachia.
By contrast, much of the West region consists of counties with lower proportions
65 years and over than the U.S. proportion of 12.4 percent, in part a result
of higher net immigration and fertility. |
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Figure 3. United States map
showing percent of total population 65 years and over, by county.
National Atlas of the United States®
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 |
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The proportion 65 years and over of each county's population
ranged from a low of 2 percent in Chattahoochee County, Georgia,
which has a large military presence, to a high of 35 percent
in Charlotte County, Florida. The older population represented
20 percent or more of the total population in 381 counties of
the United States, and 30 percent or more of the total population
in 10 counties, half of which were in Florida.
Of all 3,141 counties, 2,263 counties (or 72 percent) had a
proportion of people 65 years and over that exceeded the national
value of 12.4 percent (see Table 4). The Midwest had the highest
percent of counties that exceeded this value (82 percent), followed
by the Northeast (78 percent), the South (69 percent), and the
West (55 percent).
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Table 4. |
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A majority of the counties in most states (43) had a proportion
of people 65 years and over that exceeded the national value of
12.4 percent. In seven states, more than
90 percent of the counties had proportions 65 years and over that
were greater than 12.4 percent. In Rhode Island, all 5 counties
had proportions that exceeded 12.4 percent, while in Maine, 15
of 16 counties had proportions exceeding 12.4 percent. The other
states were Nebraska, Iowa, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and
North Dakota. In contrast, in only seven states did the majority
of counties have proportions 65 years and over that were less than
12.4 percent. These states were Alaska (in which there were no
counties that exceeded the national percentage), Delaware, Utah,
New Mexico, Colorado, Georgia, and Louisiana.
Table 5 lists the ten places with populations over 100,000 that
had the highest proportion of their total population 65 years and
over. Six of these places are located in Florida, while two are
in Michigan, one is in Hawaii, and one is in Arizona. Clearwater,
Florida, had the highest proportion 65 years and over, at 21 percent,
followed by Cape Coral, Florida (20 percent) and Honolulu, Hawaii
(18 percent).
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Table 5. |
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Eight of the ten places with the lowest proportion 65 years and
over are located in the West; the remaining two places are located
in the South (see Table 6). Gilbert, Arizona, had the lowest proportion
65 years and over (3.8 percent), followed by Fontana, California
(4.7 percent) and Plano, Texas (4.9 percent).
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Table 7 lists the
proportion 65 years and over of the ten largest cities. Of these
cities, only Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at 14.1 percent, had a
proportion that exceeded the national level of 12.4 percent. |
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Table 6. |
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Table 7. |
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Additional Topics on the 65 Years and Over Population |
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What proportion of
the older population lived in nursing homes in 2000?
The percent of people 65 years and over living in nursing homes
declined from 5.1 percent in 1990 to 4.5 percent in 2000 (see
Table 8). This percent decline occurred for people 65 to 74 years,
75 to 84 years, and especially in the population 85 years and
over, where only 18.2 percent lived in nursing homes in 2000,
compared with 24.5 percent in 1990. Ninety-one percent of the
nursing home population was 65 years and over in 2000, compared
with 90 percent in 1990.
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Table 8. |
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How many centenarians
lived in the United States in 2000?
In 2000, there were 50,454 centenarians (people age 100 or over),
representing only 1 out of every 5,578 people. In 1990, centenarians
numbered 37,306 people (1 out of every 6,667 people). The greatest
number of centenarians (5,341) lived in California in 2000, followed
by 3,997 centenarians in New York. South Dakota, with 247 centenarians
(1 out of every 3,056 people), and Iowa, with 941 centenarians
(1 out of every 3,110 people), had the highest proportion of
their population 100 years and over.
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Why Did Census 2000 Ask the Question on Age? |
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People who answered the census help their communities obtain federal
funds as well as valuable information for planning hospitals, roads,
and housing assistance. Many government agencies use data on the
older population to implement and evaluate programs and policies.
For example, the Department of Veterans Affairs must plan for nursing
homes, hospitals, and veterans' benefits; the Department of Health
and Human
Services monitors compliance with the Older Americans Act, and
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission uses data on age in
order to enforce the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The
data are also used to forecast the use of social security and medicare
benefits.
Private organizations and communities also value data on age for
the purposes of planning and assessment. Knowledge about the characteristics
of the older population helps businesses select an appropriate
mix of merchandise and plan advertising campaigns. Communities
also use this information in order to design needed health services
and living facilities for the older population.
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Endnotes
1 The text of this report discusses data for the 50 states and
the District of Columbia, but not the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
and the U.S. Island Areas.
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2 For this brief, the older population is defined as people 65
years and over.
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3 1990 populations shown in this report were originally published
in 1990 census reports and do not include subsequent revisions
resulting from boundary or other changes.
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4 For more Census 2000 age information, see U.S. Census Bureau,
2001, Age: 2000, by Julie Meyer, Census 2000 Brief, C2KBR/01-12,
Washington, DC.
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5 For more Census 2000 information
about the male and female populations, see U.S. Census Bureau, 2001,
Gender: 2000, by Denise I. Smith and Reneé E.
Spraggins, Census 2000 Brief, C2KBR/01-9, Washington, DC.
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6 The West includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado,
Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington,
and Wyoming. The South includes Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, the
District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland,
Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee,
Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. The Midwest includes Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North
Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The Northeast region
includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New
Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
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7 Washington, DC, is treated as a state equivalent for statistical
purposes.
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Adapted from U.S. Census Bureau, The
65 Years and Over Population: 2000,
by Lisa Hetzel and Annetta Smith in Census 2000 Brief Series.
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