Every Eighth Iowan prepared for the University of Iowa Committee on Aging, 1980

(1980) Every Eighth Iowan prepared for the University of Iowa Committee on Aging, 1980. University of Iowa

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Abstract

Since the proportion of elderly people in IOWA is close to one in eight, we have titled this analysis "Every Eighth Iowan." Over recent years, IOWA has ranked somewhere between first and third in the proportion of the State's population in the 65-plus age group. In 1979, the largest concentration of older persons in the United States - 13 percent or more of a State's population - occurred in 6 States: Florida (18.1%), Arkansas (13.7%), IOWA and South Dakota (13.1%), and Missouri and Nebraska (13.0%). California and New York each had more than 2 million older people, while Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas, Illinois, and Ohio each had more than 1 million. In IOWA the largest concentration of older persons - 16 percent or more of a county's population - occurred in 31 counties (see IOWA Map). All are essentially rural counties, only one of which includes a city with population greater than 6,500 (Boone, pop. 12,500). Fifteen of these high-elderly counties are among the 21 which comprise the lower two tiers of counties along the Missouri border.