10 Most Rapidly Aging Cities In America: Brookings Institute

Just as the United States struggles to figure out the future of Social Security, there's a hard truth to face: Americans are only getting older.

With the first of the generation recently turning 65, baby boomers across the country are changing the demographic makeup of cities and metropolitan areas across the country in a number of ways, according to a new study by The Brookings Institute, based on data from the 2010 Census. Made up of around 77 million people born between 1946 and 1964, baby boomers have long been the sudden bulge on population graphs. But as the generation gets older, expect the aging of individual cities to be varied.

The study finds that over the last ten years, the number of people above 45 years old grew 18 times as fast as those under 45. Specifically, the older half of baby boomers has caused the 55- to 64 year-old age bracket to increase by 50.3 percent since 2000. Comparitively, the 65 and over bracket has increased only 15.1 percent. The number of kids under 15 years old has risen only 1.6 percent.

America may be continually getting older, but the rates differ by city. In Scranton, Pennsylvania the population of those 65 and over has decreased by 7 percent since 2000 , while Phoenix, for example, is a hot spot for the young and has seen a 52 percent increase in the population of those under 45. One trend that's more consistent is the move to warmer locales like Raleigh, North Carolina and Albuquerque, New Mexico as baby boomers become "pre-seniors," aged 55 to 64 years old and begin settling into retirement.

Below are the cities with the greatest increase in population of "pre-seniors" between 2000 and 2010 according to the Brookings Institute.

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10. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA

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Percent increase 2000 to 2010: 77 percent

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Percent increase 2000 to 2010: 77 percent

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Comments

[rybalaw]

09:32 AM on 07/25/2011

What is strange is that some of the cities mentioned in the list have large state supported universities in them.

[atexasdem]

07:56 PM on 07/11/2011

This list amazes me. As a resident of Austin I can safely say, our biggest problem is mismanaged growth of an increasing population. Austin compared to many has a strong economy, reasonable housing prices and a warm climate. All things that people find desirable. Our problem is we haven't build the roads and transportation infrastructure to match our growth. By Texas standards Austin is expensive. By national city standards Austin is fairly cheap. Another Austin draw are our universities. Between all of the collages large and small plus the universities within fifty miles of Austin we're talking well over 150,000 full or part time students. Most of these students will want to stay in the Austin area after graduation. Tech industry which tends to attract the young is the lifeblood of the Austin economy. Having said that, plus living here, to say that Austin is an aging city? I don't accept it.

[Andrew Shapter]

10:16 AM on 07/10/2011

Trying to figure out why HP decided to use an image of Austin from 1996 wildfires. WTF? That pic is about 16 years old. Ah well...probably was free.

[Timothy Knight]

10:43 PM on 07/06/2011

The conservative cities are dyeing fast. Good, let nature try to cure the problem.

[Storm Holloway]

02:37 AM on 07/07/2011

"Dying" is the word you're looking for. I see several liberal cities as well, including number one Austin. You should read more.

[AcademicFreedom]

11:52 AM on 07/10/2011

Is "read" really spelled "read"; or, is it "reed"? Reeding, while not a word, could be used to gather reeds (maybe then to lay them down with drums on soft sheets), or could be used to mean playing a reed-flute.

[Stephen Jones 1]

11:11 AM on 07/11/2011

Austin is "liberal" like Olympia Snowe is liberal.

[Hope Richardson]

10:36 PM on 07/06/2011

A lot of conservative state cities up there...

[tnash26170]

05:16 PM on 07/05/2011

Pre-senior? Thought that referred to underclassmen and women.

I left PDX No. 10, as a pre-senior, for the wilds of NE Oregon.

[kickpress]

08:29 PM on 07/04/2011

Time is fleeting
Madness takes its toll
But listen closely
Not for very much longer
I've got to keep control

I remember doing the time-warp
Drinking those moments when
The Blackness would hit me
And the void would be calling...
Let's do the time-warp again.
Let's do the time-warp again.

It's just a jump to the left.
And then a step to the right.
Put your hands on your hips.
You bring your knees in tight.
But it's the pelvic thrust
That really drives you insane.
Let's do the time-warp again.
Let's do the time-warp again.

[AcademicFreedom]

11:55 AM on 07/10/2011

And close your mind up tight
It's a simple answer
That even you can understand
Let's fight the big one again
Let's fight the big one again

Obama's billions spent on wars get our mind's warped.

[maxwelldog]

01:42 PM on 07/02/2011

hate to bring reality here about the headline, however, a couple of points.

Time is the same for everyone.
It's a way to keep everything from happening at once.
No one place on Earth graduates in "time" any faster or slower than any other.
OK, well, that was fun.
But let's go on a bit, shall we?

There are churches in Europe that were built before there was a United States, or (if we consider the name being incorrect before we got here) before there was even an America. And, as it turns out...some are STILL used.
(About that last crack I made...sorry. Fact is, the name of our country has been wrong all this time.
We are NOT really America, and THIS isn't The United States of America.
You see, they used a feminine version of his first name....America is from Amerigo.
Had the correct name been used, we could living in...
the United States of Vespucci.

Well, either that or United States of Leif (you-gotta-problem-widdat) Erikson.

d=^))

[SigonellaPC3]

08:05 AM on 07/06/2011

I've been to a few of those churches in Italy. Amazing, my great-grandmother's fridge from the 50's still works, yet my 10 year old fridge needed to be replaced.

Couple that with the farce of the country Label. Kind of says something about the direction we're headed...

[maxwelldog]

11:41 AM on 07/06/2011

Ma got to see Italy, the pictures she came back with...
I got to see castles in Germany.
Even in our village, a castle....or.. OK, part of a castle.
Hohenecken Castle.
You know, it may have been about three walls and a partial turret, but, I was ten years old.
DISNEYLAND couldn't have been THAT fun!
Anyway, Lewis Black (who occasionally uses "words" to describe stuff) talked a little about the labels sort of thing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mCDZMWVWuc

[kizzie]

12:24 AM on 07/01/2011

Since the late 1990's, Albuquerque has grown alot, and the crime rate has tripled, housing has doubled.
Jobs are mostly military, scientific, or university that pay a decent wage, but most jobs are minimum wage. You either have money or you don't.
The climate is very dry making summers bearable and not swealtery and winters are reasonable.
Crime rates are exploding with gang and drug wars running rampant. If you ever watch Breaking Bad on AMC, it's the truth. Politics are corrupt but I think that is everywhere these days.
If you are retiring here, check your neighborhood out pretty darn well. There are pockets in every community unless you live in very controlled area.
Bring lots of moisturizers..
Interesting state and history but not for the feint of heart. You either love it here or you hate it. It helps to learn some Spanish.
I was raised here but left for awhile to work and then moved back in my 40's---some of my friends from school were still around so it made it a bit easier to get re-aquainted but some people can be very rude to outsiders.
Come on down, but be prepared. It is the Land of Enchantment with really beautiful skies when the fires aren't smoking it up and there is something to see or do in any direction you choose to go.

[lecturenotes2]

10:18 PM on 06/30/2011

The northeastern cities already experienced their "golden years". Many of the cities were originally settled during the 1700s and 1800s.
T
The Sunbelt cities will age rapidly at the the same time. Many of those cities grew rapidly after the 1970s. The nation has yet to see those cities urban renewal.

[SigonellaPC3]

12:06 PM on 06/30/2011

I thought all cities aged at the same rate....

[frank1946]

12:22 AM on 06/30/2011

Colorado limits tax increases to a popular vote.......................ranks high in most measures of
quality of life and recent Freedom Index (7th)....................get there early, before all the tickets
are gone !

[kizzie]

12:26 AM on 07/01/2011

Property taxes are great in Colorado--one of the cheapest in the country, but housing is still very high.

[tnash26170]

05:18 PM on 07/05/2011

But you do NOT have any beaches. Big Negative.

[Storm Holloway]

02:38 AM on 07/07/2011

Most states don't have beaches. Colorado is easily one of the most beautiful states in the country.

[diempostdiem]

12:10 AM on 06/30/2011

California welcomes all illegals and others who are seeking entitlements. So please move to CA and take advantage of all the freebies available. In CA they tax corporations and run them out of the state to make more room for entitlement seekers. They tax everyone to the hilt and don't want anyone to use electricity generated from coal, natural gas or nuclear. You can't burn firewood either so come ready to live off the land but don't turn over a rock or pick a weed because it might be endangered. And don't step on the native grasses either. Bring your downtrodden, your lame and your weak to CA and enjoy life at it's entitlement finest.

[MajorKarmaUSA]

12:14 AM on 06/30/2011

Unfortunately, this is true but not much longer for me and mine, we are sailing away.

[tnash26170]

05:19 PM on 07/05/2011

Sad thing is Prop 13 screwed this state over royally. Once the best higher education in the country, bar none.

[MajorKarmaUSA]

08:23 PM on 07/05/2011

Unfortunately, Prop 13 has Zero to do with the state of the education system. The fact is the State Government robs monies that were suppose to go to education. There was always plenty of money for what are important to the citizens of the State, including education but these elected parasites and bureaucrats and their special interests schemes. If the people of California were given a complete and true accounting of where our money has been spent..well, HuffPost will not let me say what would happen.

[samdogdamndog2]

11:46 PM on 06/29/2011

Please. Give me downtown LA or Manhattan any day over any of these "safe" zones. Feh on anything in Texas, Utah or anywhere that smacks of anything remotely "rural, right wing, or righteous."

[diempostdiem]

12:02 AM on 06/30/2011

Texas created more jobs in the last three years than 47 other states combined. "Progressive" states like CA lost 11,500 jobs over the same period. Maybe you prefer being jobless in LA to having a job in one of those dastardly rural, right wing, righteous places. Have at it.

[A2007A]

12:21 AM on 06/30/2011

Keep ur texas yuck........................... go live in larado by the border then tell me how you love your nasty state

[MajorKong]

09:38 PM on 06/30/2011

Yeah, my life-long dream was to stack shelves in a Wal-Mart in Lubbock. Woo hoo!

[ikidunot]

12:07 AM on 06/30/2011

Please stay wherever you are. You don't sound remotely intelligent enough to move.

[jjenns3]

11:36 PM on 06/29/2011

Who came up with these pictures?? The Riverside-San Bernardino makes it look like some rural area when it is actually a traffic congested, dirty, crime filled, over populated mess. The picture of Ogden, Utah really...? There was no other pics that did not have fallen over electric poles and police involved??? Madison, WI... How many more cranes can you get in one shot?? And Austin, TX... surely there must be a pic of a day with a BLUE sky. FAIL

[jjenns3]

11:50 PM on 06/29/2011

Sorry... Provo-Orem Utah...doesn't change the point.