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Mapping Baby Boomers Across the U.S.

Posted By Mike Maciag | August 30, 2012



The September issue of Governing kicks off a series examining the nation's aging population and growing number of soon-to-be retirees.

Recent census estimates show much of the country is getting older. It's a trend that's expected to continue as baby boomers exit the workforce and enter the next phase of their lives. By 2030, AARP projects one in three Americans will be age 50 or older.

The U.S. Census Bureau defines boomers as being born from 1946 to 1964. About 26.4 percent Americans counted in the 2010 Census identified themselves as being between the ages of 45 and 64, roughly the same age group.

The following counties with total populations exceeding 100,000 had the highest such concentration of boomers:

County 2010 Population Age 45 to 64 Count 45 to 64 (%)
Hunterdon County, New Jersey 128,349 44,350 34.6
El Dorado County, California 181,058 60,462 33.4
Litchfield County, Connecticut 189,927 62,862 33.1
Fayette County, Georgia 106,567 35,165 33
Rockingham County, New Hampshire 295,223 96,485 32.7
Sussex County, New Jersey 149,265 48,695 32.6
Marin County, California 252,409 82,143 32.5
Barnstable County, Massachusetts 215,888 70,005 32.4
Santa Fe County, New Mexico 144,170 46,606 32.3
York County, Maine 197,131 62,441 31.7


Here's a map showing baby boomers across all U.S. counties, with areas home to the highest concentrations of boomers in dark purple. Click the map to open a full-screen interactive version with figures for each county.

Click to open map

For comparison, here's another map shaded based on each county's 2010 median age, with older localities in dark blue (click to open full-screen interactive map):

Utah recorded a median age of only 29.2 in 2010, more than four percentage points lower than Texas, the next-youngest state. If you notice Utah atop any ranking of states, there's a good chance it can be explained by the state's high population of young people.

Maine was the nation's oldest state, with a median age of 42.7.



 


Mike Maciag


Twitter: @governing

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