|
Summary Highlights
Population
Age
Gender
Race/Ethnicity
Living Arrangements
Income
Poverty
Employment Status
Educational Attainment
Housing
Disability
Veterans
Home
|
|
These subject pages consist of narrative highlights, maps, data tables and a set of graphics. Scroll down the page or click on the links at the top of the page or within this text to go directly to a particular type of element.
The Data Query and Profile Report applications are also accessible by using the links at the top of each page or within this inset box.
|
Age
View Map with Neighborhood Labels
Narrative
- St. Louis County is relatively older than both the country and the state of Missouri. According to the 2000 Census, there are about 35 million Americans age 65 and older accounting for almost 13 percent of the population. In Missouri there were 756,038 seniors in 2000, 13.5 percent of the state population.
- In St. Louis County, 143,526 persons or 14.1 percent of the population are age 65 and older. In the county about half (52 percent) of this senior group is under 75, a bit more than a third (36 percent) is between 75 and 84, and bit more than ten percent (12 percent) are 85 years and older.
- During the 1990s the population age 65 and older grew twice as fast in the county (10.5 percent) as it did in Missouri overall (5.3 percent). This rapid county growth of seniors was due to increases among the oldest cohorts. Those 65 to 74 in the county declined in population between 1990 and 2000. However, those age 75 to 84 increased by nearly 24 percent and those age 85 and older increased by nearly 36 percent. These gains among the county's older seniors were about twice the Missouri rate (see Table 1).
- A population pyramid graphically shows the age structure for an area. For each five-year age cohort the percent of males and females is displayed with the young cohorts on the bottom and the older cohorts on the top.
Usually there are more young people and fewer older persons-giving the pyramid its classic shape. Also, women have longer life expectancies than men so the female half of population pyramids usually "lean" to the right, especially at the top because there are proportionally more older women than older men. Population pyramids show how things are now, but also they make it easy to envision the future by imagining what will happen as the cohorts inevitably grow older and move upward in the pyramid. For example, a comparison of the pyramids for Crestwood/Sunset Hills, West Chesterfield and Webster Groves shows dramatically different age structures (see the population pyramids).
- There are dramatic differences between county areas in the number of seniors. For example, there are nearly 7,500 seniors in the Shrewsbury/Affton Area while just over 1,400 in the Berkeley Area (see Table 2). These differences reflect development and settlement patterns associated with differing stages of family life and proportions of very young children.
- The greatest concentrations of elderly are in the south and south central parts of the county. For example, in Crestwood and Sunset Hills nearly a quarter of the population is age 65 and older. Town and Country, Kirkwood and Webster Groves have especially high concentrations of older adults age 85 and older (see Maps 1 and 2). The Southwest, West Chesterfield, and the South Ballwin/Manchester Areas have among the lowest concentrations of seniors with only half the proportion of seniors as the county overall.
- The county senior population age 65 and older increased by 13,620 during the 1990s. The largest numerical gains were in the Chesterfield, Mehlvelle and Sappington/Concord Areas. The greatest declines were in the Bellefontaine Neighbors / Riverview and Jennings Areas where older White populations appear to have been replaced by younger African American populations.
- Among the county's areas the senior population grew most rapidly in West Chesterfield where there was very robust population growth overall. The senior population increased in 23 areas and declined in only 14. In 11 areas, such as Town and Country, the concentration of older adults increased as the total population declined but the senior population increased (see Table 1).
Maps
click map for larger version
|
click map for larger version
|
click map for larger version
|
click map for larger version
|
Tables
| Population and Percent of Population by Age Group, 2000 |
HTML |
PDF |
| Population Change and Percent Change by Age Group, 1990-2000 |
HTML |
PDF |
| Population Pyramid Data by Age by Sex, 2000 |
|
PDF |
Graphics
A population pyramid graphically shows the age structure for an area. For each five-year age cohort the percent of males and females is displayed with the young cohorts on the bottom and the older cohorts on the top.
|
){kind=link}