Demographic Profile of Senior in Wayne County, Michigan

Total Population Trends
At the State level we have analyzed Region 1-C in relation to the other 15 regions in the
State. This analysis has concentrated on the major factors of: share of State’s population
60 years and over; share of State’s minority population 60 years and over; share of
State’s population 60 years and over in poverty. The analysis has shown that, while
increases in the region’s 60+ population resulted in an increase in State share between
1970 and 1990 (from 8.2 to 11.2 percent), the growth during the 1990s did not keep up
with overall State growth and resulted in a decrease in share from 11.2 to 10.7 percent.
(Table 1)
Table 1. Share of the State’s 60+ Population by Region
Region 1970 1980 1990 2000
1-A 24.9 17.2 12.7 9.3
1-B 17.9 21.8 24.7 26.3
1-C 8.2 10.0 11.2 10.7
2 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.2
3-A 2.1 2.0 2.1 2.2
3-B 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.1
3-C 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2
4 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.3
5 5.1 5.2 5.4 5.7
6 3.5 3.4 3.5 3.7
7 7.1 7.6 7.6 8.0
8 8.4 8.6 8.5 8.8
9 2.4 3.0 3.3 3.7
10 2.5 2.8 3.0 3.5
11 4.7 4.7 4.4 4.2
14 3.3 3.6 3.8 4.1
Table 2 shows population trends in Region 1-C, both total and just the 60 years and over
population, from 1970 to 2000. The growth in State share that Region 1-C experienced
during the 1970s and 1980s can be easily understood by examining the percentage
growth in the population 60 and over. While the region’s total population was increasing
by only 0.3 percent during the 1970s (3,307 persons), its elderly population grew by 47.1
percent, adding almost 42,000 to its 60 years and over total. This compared to a State
increase of less than half – 19.9 percent. The recession years of the 1980s hit Wayne
County very hard and led to a loss in Region 1-C’s total population. Nevertheless, the
population 60 years and over continued to grow, adding almost 38,000 (28.9 percent) to
its 1980 total. Once again this represented a rate of increase nearly twice that of the State.
The decade of the 1990s brought a reversal to these trends, and thus resulted in the first
drop in State share. While the Region’s total population grew faster than in either of the
previous two decades, adding 127,000 persons or 2.8 percent, the population 60 years and
over grew at half that rate – adding only 2,399 persons or 1.4 percent. For the first time,
the region’s rate of growth trailed that of the State.
A Demographic Profile of Seniors in PSA 1-C 3