As the number of Baby Boomers reaching the age of 65 continues to climb in the United States, metros in the Northeast and Midwest are emerging as ‘graying’ cities — and boasting increased wealth as well.
Over-65 households have a net worth 2.5 times the national average, says Forbes in a recent article.
“Seniors (over 62) were far less damaged in the housing bust than younger households, and their incomes increased more with the tepid economic recovery,” Forbes says.
While Florida takes the lead as having the highest concentration of seniors, as most might expect, the Northeast and Midwest are also boasting graying capitals, Forbes says. Findings were based on the change from 2000 through 2013 in the share of seniors in the populations of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas — the 52 metropolitan statistical areas that have more than a million residents.
Outside of Florida, the second most senior region is Pittsburgh, where 18% of the population is over 65, Forbes says, adding that “The old Steel City is followed by a host of Rust Belt metro areas: Cleveland, Rochester, Providence, Hartford, St. Louis and Detroit, all of which have a senior set that makes up 14% or more of the overall population.”
Within Florida, Tampa-St. Petersburg has the highest share of seniors in its population at 18.2%. Miami, where 16.7% of its population is over 65, ranks third in the nation, and Jacksonville is 18th, at 13.7%, data show.
“The metropolitan areas that have seen the biggest jumps in the senior proportion of their populations, have, for the most part, been the same ones that have drawn strong net domestic in-migration of millennials, families and working adults,” Forbes says. “The rise in the share of seniors in these cities isn’t because seniors are moving to them in overwhelming numbers — Census data shows they make major moves less than all other age groups. Rather, many of those who have reached 65 since 2000 in the cities that top our list moved to them when they were younger, generally in search of economic opportunities or better lives, and have aged there.”
Written by Cassandra Dowell
