Demographic Profile of Senior in Wayne County, Michigan

Now that we have looked at the fundamental demographic and socioeconomic patterns of
Region 1-A’s population by sector, it is time to highlight other characteristics 9 .
Living Arrangements
Table 22 describes the living arrangements of the 60+ population. The most important
characteristic, from a service/need standpoint, is the degree to which the population is
living alone. Living alone is often associated with poverty, disability and other
characteristics that translate to a higher need for services. The correlation between living
alone and poverty is quite clearly illustrated by the fact that our highest poverty sectors, 4
and 11, also contain the highest proportions of seniors living alone.
Table 23. Living Arrangements of the Population 60+ by Sector, 2000
Sectors
Households
with 1 or
more persons
60 years+
Living
Alone
Number of Households
In 2 or
more
person
household
Family
household
Non-family
household
Living
Alone
Percent of Households
In 2 or
more
person
household
Family
household
Non-family
household
1 9,848 3,444 6,404 6,037 367 35.0 65.0 61.3 3.7
2 6,549 1,966 4,583 4,324 259 30.0 70.0 66.0 4.0
3 12,550 5,367 7,183 6,631 552 42.8 57.2 52.8 4.4
4 10,130 6,284 3,846 3,355 491 62.0 38.0 33.1 4.8
5 8,233 3,106 5,127 4,763 364 37.7 62.3 57.9 4.4
6 12,544 5,078 7,466 6,944 522 40.5 59.5 55.4 4.2
7 10,772 3,795 6,977 6,627 350 35.2 64.8 61.5 3.2
8 6,945 2,494 4,451 4,199 252 35.9 64.1 60.5 3.6
9 10,710 3,373 7,337 6,987 350 31.5 68.5 65.2 3.3
10 9,444 2,967 6,477 6,231 246 31.4 68.6 66.0 2.6
11 4,911 2,428 2,483 2,300 183 49.4 50.6 46.8 3.7
12 8,991 3,420 5,571 5,420 151 38.0 62.0 60.3 1.7
Region Totals 111,627 43,722 67,905 63,818 4,087 39.2 60.8 57.2 3.7
When a person does not live in a house or apartment (an occupied housing unit or
household, as defined by the Census), he/she is said to live in group quarters. While the
Census Bureau did not tabulate the group quarters population for 60 years and above,
they did tabulate it for 65 and above. Table 24 provides the detail by sector. The
majority of sectors, with the exception of 2 and 5, have a fairly large number of group
quarters – primarily nursing homes – population. The heaviest concentration is in Sector
3 on the lower east side of Detroit, where the concentration of nursing home facilities
along E. Grand Blvd. gives this sector 31 percent of the group quarters total. As would
be expected, females account for 65 to 70 percent of the total group quarters population.
9 The data highlighted in the report are included in the detailed appendix tables. These tables also contain
additional data that were viewed to be beyond the scope of the written report.
A Demographic Profile of Seniors in PSA 1-A 21