Senior Citizens in Oklahoma County - 2003

Oklahoma County, with a total population of 660,448 of which 80,176 are 65 or older, is continuing to experience dramatic changes in its senior population. These trends will only continue in the future.

The population of Oklahoma County grew by 5.5% from 1990 to 1998; however, the population of those people over 65 grew by 10%. There are many factors that impact this migration seniors to Oklahoma County, including:

• Moving to be closer to adult children
• Need to be closer to medical services
• Better quality of life
• Greater availability to services, such as meals-on-wheels

These factors are so great that many service program executives believe that the figures for seniors in Oklahoma County in the 2000 census are already out-of-date.

Other factors that impact this situation are the continuing increase of longevity of life and the number of people in the "Baby Boomer" generation that now is nearing retirement age.

Longevity in our country has never been longer. In fact, recent statistics tell us that a person who turns 65 in 2003 will, on average, live until the age of 80, if male, and to 85 years, if a woman. The age group of those 85 and older is the fastest growing age group; the Census Bureau estimates that this group will increase by 73.7% by 2025.

The graph above shows the number of people in each age category Oklahoma County, and illustrates the problems service providers' faces as the numbers of people expecting services grows at such a tremendous rate.	We are seeing more and more people slip into inventory poverty as they age. In fact, 62% of low- income seniors spend more than 50% of their income on housing. This graph show that the number of people in the lowest income categories increases by age, once people start to reach retirement age.