Idaho’s senior population is increasing at a much faster pace than the U.S. as a whole, according to the recently released American Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau. Nationally, the senior population – those 64 and older – increased 9.9 percent from 2017 to 2019, while Idaho’s senior population grew 32.4 percent.
In the next couple of months, the Census Bureau will publish American Community Survey data for counties, cities, ZIP code areas, Native American homelands and reservations, and census tracts. The survey provides information about demographics, employment, education, income, poverty, health insurance, veterans, types of households and people with disabilities. The ACS is described as the “most detailed look at America’s people, places and economy.”
Highlights from the new 2018 American Community Survey show how rapidly Idaho’s population is growing and changing, the numbers and types of people moving into the state, the regions where today’s Idaho residents were born, the educational attainment of Idahoans and who is self-employed in the state:
- Rapid growth of Idaho’s senior population (32.4 percent compared with 9.9 percent for the total state population).
- Many people are moving to Idaho and they aren’t all rich retirees.
- Fewer than half (5 percent) of Idahoans were born in Idaho, while 58.1 percent of U.S. residents live in the state where they were born.
- Idahoans are more likely to have high school diplomas than U.S. residents, but less likely to have college degrees.
- Female college graduates now outnumber males in Idaho.
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