Aging in Indiana
Nearly two-thirds of Indiana counties have a median age above 39, two years older that the state median age of 37.
The oldest median-aged counties are Brown (46.7), Ohio (43.7), Pike (42.8) and Tipton (42.6).
Fourteen counties had a median age below the Indiana mark. Aside from communities with large college student or Amish populations, the state’s youngest populations were in some of its largest counties, including Marion (33.9), Elkhart (34.9), Allen (35.3), Hamilton (35.6) and Hendricks (36.7) counties.
To find out more about how your county is aging, visit the Indiana STATS website, run by the Indiana Business Research Center, at www.stats.indiana.edu.
INDIANAPOLIS — It didn’t take the release of the 2010 Census this spring for Noble Stallons to know his beloved community of Linton was aging faster than some other small cities around Indiana.
The retired utility executive and former chairman of the Indiana Commission on Aging had seen numbers that showed about 40 percent of older neighborhoods that make up much of Linton’s residential area were occupied by residents over the age of 60.
But where others saw problems that come with an aging community, Stallons saw opportunity. Working with other community members, he pushed city officials to expand public transportation options for older residents who could no longer drive, and got them to approve an ordinance that enabled older residents to take golf carts onto city streets to get to grocery stores, doctors’ offices and retail shops.
At 76, Stallons is now working on a project to measure Linton’s “walkability” with an eye toward creating safer sidewalks not just for older residents but for the city’s schoolchildren, who, like their peers across the United States, are plagued with obesity.
Not long ago, with encouragement from Stallons, Linton amended it’s “You’ll Like Linton” city logo to add this phrase: “A good place to grow up and a good place to grow old.”
Stallons is convinced more Indiana communities should create and market “elder-friendly” amenities, given that the number of Hoosiers 45 and older increased by 37 percent over the last decade while the 44-and-under group dropped.
According to the 2010 Census, only 10 Indiana counties saw their younger adult population (ages 18 to 44) grow in the past decade. That reflects a national trend in aging, pumped up by what demographers call the “pig in the python” cohort of the 77 million Baby Boomers born between 1945 to 1965.
“We were ahead of the curve,” Stallons said of Linton’s efforts. “But others are going to have to catch up. The oldest of those Boomers are now turning 65 at a rate of 1 every 7 seconds.” As Stallons noted: “That’s a group that’s going to exact change.”
Hoosier population growing
Comparatively speaking, Indiana is still young. The 2010 Census found the median age of its 6.4 million residents was 37. That’s less than half the average life expectancy in high-income countries, like the U.S., which rose from age 78 to 80 between 2000 and 2010.
And, as Indiana Business Research Center analyst Matt Kinghorn notes, Indiana’s median age is younger than Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky, and the U.S median. Indiana also bucked a regional trend, growing its 17-and-under population by 2.2 percent while surrounding states fell.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels likes to point out that while several states in the Midwest lost residents, Indiana grew by more than 6 percent, adding about 400,000 people from 2000 to 2010. “We grew faster than any state from Iowa to Maine,” Daniels said.
Still, only 24 of Indiana’s 92 counties had more people under 18 last year than in 2000. So, while Daniels noted that “we’re younger than our neighbors,” he also said an aging Indiana poses some serious concerns for the state: “If you’re getting smaller and older, you’re not getting richer.”
Redefining the twilight years
An aging Indiana presents challenges, from increasing healthcare costs for the state to decreasing mobility for those who can no longer drive and live in communities with little public transportation.
One of the more contentious budget disputes at the Statehouse in the last legislative session involved the $28 million in funding for CHOICE, a home healthcare program for the elderly. It serves 11,000 older Hoosiers, but has a waiting list of 7,000.
Ellen Miller, director of the Center for Aging and Community at the University of Indianapolis, said addressing those needs is critical. But she’s also an advocate of redefining of what it means to age. “We need to reframe the issue,” Miller said. “We need to see aging for its opportunities and not just its challenges.”
Miller said Baby Boomers, now 27 percent of Indiana’s population, aren’t going to be like past generations of elderly. They’re expected to live longer, work longer — out of need or desire — and play harder than their predecessors did. “This is not a group that’s going to be content sitting in rocking chairs or out playing golf,” Miller said.
That means they’ll be more demanding in their expectations. “I’m in my 50s,” Miller said. “I don’t see myself the same way my mother did when she was my age.” Miller thinks that’s also true for Boomers now in their 60s — which includes Indiana’s motorcycle-riding governor.
“I think we’ll see some amazing trends in the next 10 years that are Boomer-driven,” Miller said. “It’s going to mean a different set of rules of engagement.”
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