A

PROFILE 

OF OLDER 

AMERICANS

1999
The Older Population*

■ The older population—persons 65 years or

o l d e r — numbered 34.4 million in 1998. T h ey represented 12.7% of the U. S. population, about one in

eve ry eight Ameri c a n s. The number of older Americans increased by 3.2 million or 10.1% since 1990,

compared to an increase of 8.1% for the under-65

p o p u l a t i o n .

■ In 1998, there were 20.2 million older women 

and 14.2 million older men, or a sex ratio of 143

women for eve ry 100 men. The sex ratio increases

with age, ranging from 118 for the 65-69 group to a

high of 241 for persons 85 and older.

■ Since 1900, the percentage of Americans 65+

has more than tripled (4.1% in 1900 to 12.7% in

1 9 9 8 ) . In absolute term s, the number has increased

e l even fold from 3.1 million to 34.4 million.

■ The older population itself is getting older. In 

1998 the 65-74 age group (18.4 million) was eight

times larger than in 1900, but the 75-84 group 

(12.0 million) was 16 times larger and the 85+ 

group (4.0 million) was 33 times larger.

■ In 1997, persons reaching age 65 had an ave r -

age life expectancy of an additional 17.6 ye a r s

(19.0 years for females and 15.8 years for males).

■ A child born in 1997 could expect to live 76.5

ye a r s, about 29 years longer than a child born in

1 9 0 0 . The major part of this increase occurred because of reduced death rates for children and 

young adults. L i fe expectancy at age 65 increased by only 2.4 years between 1900 and 

1960, but has increased by 3.3 years since 1960.

■ Almost 1.9 million persons celebrated their 65th

b i rt h d ay in 1998 (5,190 per day ) . In the same ye a r,

about 1.75 million persons 65 or older died, resulting in a net increase of about 145,000 (396 per day ) .

1
FIGURE 1

NUMBER OF PERSONS 65 +: 1900 to 2030

Future Growth

■ The older population will continue to gr ow significantly in the future (see Figure. 1 ) . This gr ow t h

s l owed somew h a t during the 1990’s because of

the relatively small number of babies born during 

the Great Depression of the 1930’s. But the older

population will burgeon between the years 2010

and 2030 when the “baby boom” generation

reaches age 65.

■ By 2030, there will be about 70 million older

persons, more than twice their number in 1998.

People 65+ are projected to represent almost 13% of

t h e population in the year 2000 but will be 20% by

2030.

■ M i n o rity populations are projected to represent

25% of the elderly population in 2030, up from

16% in 1998. Between 1998 and 2030, the

white** population 65+ is projected to increase

by 79% compared with 220% for older minorities,

including Hispanics (341%) and Afri c a n -

A m e ricans** (130%), American Indians,

Eskimos, and Aleuts** (150%), and Asians and

Pacific Islanders** (323%).

2

Based on data from U.S.Bureau of the Census
Marital Status

■ In 1998, older men were much more likely to b e

married than were older women—75% of men,

43% of women (Figure 2).

■ Almost half of all older women in 1998 were widow s ( 4 5 % ) .There were four times as many widows

(8.4 million) as widowers (2.0 million).

■ Although divorced older persons represented

only 7% of all older persons in 1998, their nu m b e r s

(2.1 million) had increased five times as fast as the

older population as a whole since 1990 (2.8

times for men, 7.4 times for wo m e n ) .

FIGURE 2

M A R I TAL STATUS OF PERSONS 65 +: 1998

Living Arrangements

■ The majority (67%) of older noninstitutionalize d

persons lived in a family setting in 1998. A p p r ox i -

mately 10.8 million or 80% of older men, and 10.7

million or 58% of older women, lived in families (Figure

3 ) .The proportion living in a family setting decreased

with age. Only 45% of those 85+ years old lived in

family settings. About 13% of older persons (7% 

of men, 17% of women) were not living with a

spouse but were living with children, sibl i n g s, or

other relative s. An additional 3% of men and

2% of women, or 718,000 older persons, lived with

non-relatives.

3

Based on data from U.S.Bureau of the Census
■ About 31% (9.9 million) of all noninstitutiona l i zed older persons in 1998 lived alone (7.6 million women, 2.3 million men). T h ey represented 

41% of older women and 17% of older men. L i v i n g

alone correlates with advanced age. Among wo m e n

aged 85 and ove r, for ex a m p l e, three of eve ry five

l i ved alone.

FIGURE 3 

LIVING ARRANGEMENTS OF PERSONS 

65+:1998

■ While a small number (1.43 million) and perc e n t -

age (4.2%) of the 65+ population lived in nursing 

homes in 1996, the percentage increases dra m a t -

ically with age, ranging from 1.1% for persons 65-74

years to 4.2% for persons 75-84 years and 19.8% fo r

persons 85+.

Racial and Ethnic Composition

■ In 1998, 15.7% of persons 65+ were minori t i e s —

8.0% were African Ameri c a n s,** 2.1% were Asian or

Pacific Islander,** and less than 1% were Ameri c a n

Indian or Native Alaskan.** Persons of Hispanic origin (who may be of any race) represented 5.1% of

the older population.

4

Based on data from U.S.Bureau of the Census
■ Only 7.2% of minority race and Hispanic populations

were 65+ in 1998 (8.4% of African Americans**, 7.5%

of Asians and Pacific Islanders**, 7.2% of Ameri c a n

Indians and native Alaskans**, 5.8% of Hispanics),

compared with 14.8% of whites**.

Geographic Distribu t i o n

■ In 1998, about half (52%) of persons 65+ lived in nine

s t a t e s.C a l i fo rnia had over 3.5 million and Florida had 2.7, 

while New Yo rk had 2.4 million.Texas and Pe n n s y l va n i a

had almost 2 million each and Ohio, Illinois, Michigan,

and New Jersey each had over 1 million (Figure 4).

■ Persons 65+ constituted 14.0% or more of the total

population in 11 states in 1998 (Figure 4): F l o ri d a

( 1 8 . 3 % ) ; Pe n n s y l vania (15.9%); Rhode Island (15.6%);

West Virginia (15.2%); I owa (15.1%); N o rth Dako t a

( 1 4 . 4 % ) ; Connecticut, Arkansas and South Dako t a

(14.3% each); Maine (14.1%) and Massachusetts

( 1 4 . 0 % ) .

■ In sixteen states, the 65+ population increased 

by 15.0% or more between 1990 and 1998 (Figure

5 ) : N evada (55%); Alaska (49%); A ri zona 

( 2 9 % ) ;H awaii (27%); Utah (22%); C o l o rado and New

M exico (21%); D e l aware (19%); N o rth Carolina and

South Carolina (18%);Wyoming (17%);Texas (16%);

and Califo rnia, Florida and Georgia (15%).

■ The ten jurisdictions with the highest pove rty ra t e s

for the elderly over the period 1995-1997 we r e : t h e

D i s t rict of Columbia (20.6%); A rkansas (17.1%);

Mississippi (16.6%); Louisiana (16.3%); Tex a s

( 1 5 . 8 % ) ; N ew Mexico (15.7%); South Carolina

( 1 5 . 6 % ) ; Georgia (14.0%);West Virginia (13.9%);a n d

Tennessee (13.7%).

■ Persons 65+ were slightly less likely to live in metropolitan areas in 1998 than younger persons (77% of the

e l d e rl y, 81% of persons under 65). About 28% of older

persons lived in central cities, and 49% lived in subu r b s.

■ The elderly are less likely to change residence than

other age gr o u p s. In 1997 only 5% of persons 65+ had

m oved since 1996 (compared to 18% of persons under

6 5 ) . A large majority of the elderly who moved (81%)

had moved to another home in the same state.

5
6

FIGURE 4 

PERSONS 65+ AS PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL POPULATION: 1998

Based on data from U.S.Bureau of the Census

See: http://www.census.gov/population/

estimates/state/5age9890.txt

ALASKA HAWAII

ALASKA HAWAII

FIGURE 5 

PERCENTAGE INCREASE IN POPULATION 65+ : 1990 TO 1998

7

U.S. = 12.7%

14.0% or more (11)

13.0% to 13.9% (15)

12.0% to 12.9% (11)

11.0% to 11.9% (9)

Less than 11.0% (5)

Dist. of 

Col.

U.S. = 10.1%

15.0% or more (12)

10.0% to 14.9% (10)

7.0% to 9.9% (7)

4.0% to 6.9% (11)

Less than 4.0% (11)

Dist. of 

Col.

Based on data from U.S.Bureau of the Census

Source: same as that for Figure 4
FIGURE 6

THE 65+ POPULATION BY STATE: 1998

State

Number of Persons 1998 1998 1 9 9 0 - 9 8 1 9 9 5 - 9 7

U.S., total . . . . 34,401,132 12.7 10.1 10.6 

Alabama. . . . . . . . . . 568,352 13.1 9.0 12.9 

Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,556 5.5 49.4 5.3

Arizona . . . . . . . . . . 617,538 13.2 28.5 10.3

Arkansas . . . . . . . . . 363,232 14.3 3.9 17.1 

California . . . . . . . 3,614,632 11.1 15.3 8.4 

Colorado . . . . . . . . . 401,784 10.1 21.4 7.4

Connecticut . . . . . . . 469,112 14.3 5.3 5.7 

Delaware . . . . . . . . . . 96,326 13.0 19.2 9.2

District of Columbia . . 72,710 13.9 -5.7 20.6 

Florida . . . . . . . . . 2,734,145 18.3 15.2 10.4

Georgia . . . . . . . . . . 755,092 9.9 15.4 14.0

Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . 158,306 13.3 26.6 9.3

Idaho . . . . . . . . . . . . 139,126 11.3 14.4 8.6

Illinois . . . . . . . . . . 1,495,969 12.4 4.3 9.0 

Indiana . . . . . . . . . . 739,587 12.5 6.1 7.0

Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . 431,018 15.1 1.0 7.4 

Kansas. . . . . . . . . . . 354,113 13.5 3.3 9.8 

Kentucky . . . . . . . . . 492,856 12.5 5.7 12.6 

Louisiana . . . . . . . . . 503,750 11.5 7.5 16.3 

Maine . . . . . . . . . . . 174,832 14.1 7.0 11.8 

Maryland . . . . . . . . . 591,545 11.5 14.2 8.9 

Massachusetts . . . . . 860,604 14.0 5.3 9.7 

Michigan . . . . . . . . 1,223,040 12.5 10.2 8.5 

Minnesota. . . . . . . . . 583,097 12.3 6.4 9.8 

Mississippi . . . . . . . . 336,311 12.2 5.1 16.6 

Missouri . . . . . . . . . . 745,387 13.7 3.9 8.8 

Montana . . . . . . . . . 117,038 13.3 9.8 9.7 

Nebraska . . . . . . . . . 228,735 13.8 2.5 10.8

Nevada . . . . . . . . . . 200,335 11.5 55.1 8.0

New Hampshire . . . . 142,298 12.0 13.6 7.7 

New Jersey . . . . . . 1,105,816 13.6 7.3 9.9

New Mexico . . . . . . . 198,038 11.4 21.3 15.7

New York . . . . . . . 2,423,797 13.3 3.3 12.4 

North Carolina . . . . . 946,753 12.5 17.5 12.5

North Dakota . . . . . . . 91,976 14.4 1.0 10.4

Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . 1,500,851 13.4 6.5 8.9 

Oklahoma. . . . . . . . . 448,388 13.4 5.7 12.7 

Oregon . . . . . . . . . . 432,718 13.2 10.3 6.0 

Pennsylvania . . . . 1,904,312 15.9 4.1 9.9 

Rhode Island . . . . . . 154,327 15.6 2.7 12.9 

South Carolina . . . . . 468,406 12.2 18.1 15.6

South Dakota . . . . . . 105,742 14.3 3.3 12.2 

Tennessee . . . . . . . . 679,212 12.5 9.7 13.7 

Texas . . . . . . . . . . 1,999,751 10.1 16.3 15.8 

Utah . . . . . . . . . . . . 184,098 8.8 22.1 4.8 

Vermont . . . . . . . . . . . 72,573 12.3 9.7 8.7 

Virginia. . . . . . . . . . . 766,976 11.3 15.2 11.3 

Washington . . . . . . . 651,970 11.5 13.1 7.3 

West Virginia . . . . . . 274,689 15.2 2.3 13.9 

Wisconsin. . . . . . . . . 690,786 13.2 5.9 7.4 

Wyoming . . . . . . . . . . 55,527 11.5 17.4 10.1

Based on data from U.S.Bureau of the Census-Source is the same

as that of figure 4

Percent 

of all

ages

Number

(000’s)

Percent

below

poverty

level***

Percent

increase

8
Income

■ The median income of older persons in 1998

was $18,166 for males and $10,054 for females.

Real median income grew by slightly more for

women (+2.8%) than men (+0.7%) since 1997.

■ Households containing families headed by persons 65+ reported a median income in 1998 of

$31,568 ($32,398 for W h i t e s, $22,102 for Afri c a n -

A m e ri c a n s, and $21,935 for Hispanics). A p p r ox i -

mately one of eve ry seven (13.7%) family households with an elderly head had incomes less than

$15,000 and 44.6% had incomes of $35,000 or

more (Figure 7).

FIGURE 7

PERCENT DISTRIBUTION BY INCOME:1998*

9

Based on data from Current Population Reports,

“Consumer Income,” P60-200 Issued September 1999

by the U.S. Bureau of the Census
10

■ For all older persons reporting income in 1998

(31.7 million), 36% reported less than $10,000.

Only 22% reported $25,000 or more. The median

income reported was $13,768.

■ The major sources of income as reported by the

Social Security Administration for older persons in

1996 were Social Security (reported by 91% of older

persons), income from assets (reported by 63%),

p u blic and pri vate pensions (reported by 43%),

e a rnings (reported by 21%), and public assistance

( 6 % ) .

■ In 1996, Social Security benefits accounted fo r

4 0 % of the aggregate income of the older population. The bulk of the remainder consisted of

earnings (20%), assets (18%), and pensions

(18%).

■ The median net wo rth (assets minus liabilities) of

older households ($86,300), including those 75+

years ($77,700), was well above the U. S. ave ra g e

($37,600) in 1993.Net wo rth was below $10,000 fo r

16% of older households but was above $250,000

for 17%.

Poverty

■ About 3.4 million elderly persons were below the

p ove rty level*** in 1998.The pove rty rate for persons

65+ was 10.5%, no change from 1997 and the

same as the rate for persons 18-64. Another 2.1 million or 6.3% of the elderly were classified as “ n e a r -

p o o r ” (income between the pove rty level and 125%

of this leve l ) . In total, one of eve ry six (16.8%) older

persons was poor or near-poor in 1998.

■ One of eve ry eleven (8.9%) elderly Whites wa s

poor in 1998, compared to 26.4% of elderly Afri c a n

A m e ricans and 21.0% of elderly Hispanics. H i g h e r

than ave rage pove rty rates among older persons

correlated with living in central cities (13.8%), ru ra l

areas (12.5%), and the South (12.0%).
■ Older women had a higher pove rty rate (12.8%)

than older men (7.2%) in 1998. Older persons living

alone or with non-relatives were much more likely to

be poor (21.0%) than were older persons living in

families (6.4%). The highest pove rty rates we r e

ex p e rienced by older Afri c a n - A m e rican women living alone, one-half of whom (49.3%) were poor in

1 9 9 8 .

H o u s i n g

■ Of the 20.9 million households headed by older

persons in 1997, 79% were owners and 21% we r e

r e n t e r s. The median family income of older homeowners was $20,280. The median family income of

renters was $10,867.

■ About 50% of homes owned by older persons in

1997 were built prior to 1960 (33% for younger 

owners) and 6% had physical probl e m s.

■ In 1997, 37% of older homeowners spent more

than one-fo rth of their income on housing ex p e n s e s,

as compared to 30% of homeowners under the age

of 65. The median value of homes owned by older

persons was $89,294 as compared to a median

value of $98,815 for all owned homes.About 77% of

older homeowners in 1997 owned their homes free

and clear.

E m p l oy m e n t

■ About 3.7 million older Americans (12%) were 

in the labor force (wo rking or actively seeking 

wo rk) in 1998, including 2.2 million men (16%) and

1.6 million women (8%). T h ey constituted 2.8% 

of the U. S. labor fo r c e. About 3.2% of them we r e

u n e m p l oye d .

11
■ Labor force participation of older men decreased steadily from 2 of 3 in 1900 to 15.8% in

1985, and has stayed at 16%-17% since then. T h e

p a rticipation rate for older females rose slightly from

1 of 12 in 1900 to 10.8% in 1956, fell to 7.3% in

1985, and has been around 8%-9% since 1988.

■ Just over half (54%) of the wo rkers over 65 in

1998 were employed part - t i m e : 48% of men and

62% of wo m e n .

■ About 860,000 or 23% of older wo rkers in 1998

were self-employed, compared to 7% for yo u n g e r

wo rke r s. O ver two-thirds of them (71%) were men.

Education 

■ The educational level of the older population is

i n c r e a s i n g . B e t ween 1970 and 1998, the percentage who had completed high school rose from 

28% to 67%. About 15% in 1998 had a bachelor’s

d e gree or more.

■ The percentage who had completed high 

school va ried considera bly by race and ethnic origin among older persons in 1998: 69% of W h i t e s,

43% of Afri c a n - A m e ri c a n s, and 30% of Hispanics.

Health and Health Care

■ In 1996, 27.0% of older persons assessed their

health as fair or poor (compared to 9.2% for all pers o n s ) .There was little difference between the sexe s

on this measure, but older Afri c a n - A m e ri c a n s

(41.6%) and older Hispanics (35.1%) were mu c h

more likely to rate their health as fair or poor than

were older Whites (26%).

■ Limitations on activity because of chronic conditions increase with age. In 1996, over one-third

(36.3%) of older persons reported they were limited

by chronic conditions.Among all elderl y, 10.5% we r e

u n a ble to carry on a major activity. In contrast, only

10.3% the total population were limited in their activi t i e s, and only 3.5% had a major restri c t i o n .

12
■ In 1994-95, more than half of the older population

(52.5%) reported having one or more disabilities.

One-third had at least one severe disability.O ver 4.4

million (14%) had difficulty in carrying out activities

of daily living (ADLs) and 6.5 million (21%) report e d

difficulties with instrumental activities of daily living

( I A D L s ) . The percentages with disabililties increase

s h a rply with age (Figure 8). Disability takes a mu c h

h e avier toll on the ve ry old. Almost three-fo u rt h s

(71.5%) of those age 80+ report at least one disa b i l i t y. Better than half (53.5%) had one or more

s evere disabilities. The percentage having difficulty

with ADLs (27.5%) and IADLs (40.4%) is about double that of the 65+ population in total. [ADLs include

bathing, dressing, eating, and getting around the

h o u s e. IADLs include preparing meals, shopping,

managing money, using the telephone, doing

h o u s ewo rk, and taking medications. ]

FIGURE 8

PERCENT WITH DISABILITIES, BY AG E :1 9 9 4 - 9 5

■ Most older persons have at least one chronic condition and many have multiple conditions. The most

frequently occurring conditions per 100 elderly in

1995 we r e : a rt h ritis (49), hy p e rtension (40), heart

disease (31), hearing impairments (28), ort h o p e d i c

i m p a i rments (18), cataracts (16), sinusitis (15), and

diabetes (13).

13

Source for Figure 8 and for the accompanying data on 

disabilities, including the definition of disability, is Current

Population Reports, “Americans with Disabilities: 1994-95,”

P70-61, August 1997

65 years and over 

15 to 64 years 

Less than 15 years

Any disability Severe disability
■ Older people accounted for 36% of all hospital

s t ays and 49% of all days of care in hospitals in

1 9 9 7 .The ave rage length of a hospital stay was 6.8

d ays for older people, compared to only 5.5 day s

for people under 65.The ave rage length of stay fo r

older people has decreased 5.3 days since 1964.

Older persons ave raged more contacts with doctors in 1997 than did persons under 65 (11.7 contacts vs. 4.9 contacts).

■ In 1997, older consumers ave raged $2,855 in

o u t - o f - p o cket health care ex p e n d i t u r e s, a 35%

increase since 1990. In contrast, those under age

65 spent considera bly less, ave raging $1,576 in outo f - p o cket costs - up 31% from 1990. O l d e r

A m e ricans spend12% of their total expenditures on

health, three times the proportion spent by yo u n g e r

c o n s u m e r s. Health costs incurred on ave rage by

older consumers in 1997 consist of $1,523 (53%)

for insura n c e, $637 (22%) for dru g s, $564 for medical serv i c e s, and $130 (5%) for medical supplies.

F o o t n o t e s :

* Principal sources of data for the profile are

the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the National

Center of Health Statistics, and the Bureau of

Labor Statistics.

** Excludes persons of Hispanic origin.

*** Calculated on the basis of the official

poverty definitions for the years 1995-1997.

14
A Profile of Older Americans: 1 9 9 9 was prepared by the Program Resource Department, AARP,

and the Administration on Aging (AoA), U. S.

D epartment of Health and Human Services.

The annual Profile of Older Americans was originally developed and researched by Donald G.

Fowles, AoA. The 1999 edition was updated by

Alfred Duncker and Saadia Greenberg, AoA,

reviewed by Ed Evans of AARP, with production by

Felo Madrid, AARP.

AARP is the nation’s leading organization for 

people age 50 and ove r. It serves their needs and

interests through info rmation and education, advo c ac y, and community services provided by a netwo rk of

local chapters and ex p e rienced volunteers throughout

the country. The organization also offers members a

wide range of special benefits and serv i c e s, including

M o d e rn Maturi t y magazine and the monthly B u l l e t i n.

AoA serves as an advocate for the elderly within

the fe d e ral gove rnment and is wo rking to encourage

and coordinate a responsive system of family and

c o m munity based services throughout the nation.A o A

helps states develop comprehensive service systems

which are administered by 57 State and Te r ri t o ri a l

Units on Aging, 655 Area Agencies on Aging, ove r

225 Native American organizations, and thousands of

local service prov i d e r s.

For up to 10 free copies of this brochure, wri t e :

A Profile of Older Ameri c a n s :1 9 9 9

AARP Fulfillment

601 E Street, N.W.

Washington, D. C. 2 0 0 4 9

For quantities over 10, wri t e :

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Washington, DC 20049

D996 (1199)