Rochester’s older population fastest growing statewide

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With baby boomers reaching retirement age and people living longer than ever before, it’s no surprise the community is aging. But in the last decade, Rochester experienced the fastest growth in older adults of any major city in New York State, a recent report shows.

Supported by AARP and published by the Center for an Urban Future, “New York’s Older Adult Population is Booming Statewide” shows that the number of people aged 65 and older increased by 26 percent. In Rochester, however, that number increased by 36 percent.

Older adults now account for 12 percent of Rochester’s population, up from 9 percent 10 years ago.

“New York’s population is rapidly graying. In every corner of the state, older adults are driving most, if not all, of the growth,” said Jonathan Bowles, executive director of the Center for an Urban Future, in a statement last month. “The governor and Legislature and local officials across the state should take note of these trends and make investing in older adult services a higher priority.”

The study, which analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, showed that Monroe County had a similarly dramatic increase in its older adult population. Between 2007 and 2017, the number of residents aged 65 and older in the county increased by 13 percent, while the county’s overall population fell by 12 percent.

In 2017, Monroe County was home to 125,798 people aged 65 and older, up from 111,365 in 2007. Those 85 and older increased by 2 percent during the period.

At 31 percent, the study also shows that older adults in Rochester have the highest poverty rates of any city or county in the state. The Bronx’s older adult poverty rate was 28 percent. During the last decade, the number of older adults in poverty in Rochester increased by 38 percent, according to the report, from 5,639 in 2007 to 7,798 in 2017.

The age boom is occurring statewide, the report shows. New York’s 65 and older population increased by 647,000 during the decade, and there are now more older adults in New York than the entire population of 21 states. Those aged 64 and under statewide decreased by 95,375 between 2007 and 2017.

“These eye-popping numbers are a wake-up call to address the needs of our fast-aging population,” AARP New York State Director Beth Finkel said. “Our elected officials must acknowledge that older New Yorkers can’t keep paying ever-increasing utility bills and our unpaid family caregivers can’t keep helping our loved ones age in their own homes rather than in less desirable, costlier and taxpayer-funded nursing homes without more support.”

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