Demographic Profile of Senior in Wayne County, Michigan

Minority Population Trends
The movement of minorities out of Detroit and Highland Park into the suburbs of Wayne
County has resulted in an increase in both the minority share of Region 1-C’s 60+
population, from 5.6 to 6.7 percent, and the region’s share of the State’s total minority
elderly, from 5.2 to 5.9 percent. Table 4 summarizes the trend in minority share across
the State’s 16 regions between 1990 and 2000 2 .
Table 4. Share of Minority Population 60 Years+ by Region, 1990 - 2000
Region
1990 2000
Reg Share ST Share Reg Share ST Share
1-A 60.0 62.9 72.1 54.5
1-B 4.5 9.3 6.6 14.1
1-C 5.6 5.2 6.7 5.9
2 4.0 1.1 3.7 1.0
3-A 5.5 1.0 7.1 1.3
3-B 7.0 1.3 7.6 1.3
3-C 3.0 0.3 2.5 0.2
4 9.9 2.8 10.0 2.7
5 11.1 5.0 12.8 5.9
6 6.1 1.8 7.3 2.2
7 5.4 3.4 5.2 3.4
8 4.6 3.2 5.3 3.8
9 0.7 0.2 1.1 0.3
10 1.1 0.3 1.3 0.4
11 1.6 0.6 2.7 0.9
14 6.0 1.9 5.9 2.0
A further analysis of the region’s racial/ethnic makeup (see Table 5) details the
composition of the region’s minority population. Just under 64 percent of the region’s
total minority elderly population is African-American. 3 Asian and Pacific Islanders
comprised 16.2 percent of the total, while Multi-racial responses accounted for 14.1
percent. Native Americans and Other (undefined) races accounted for 3 percent each.
While not included in the count of minorities, 2,365 elderly (20.5 percent) identified
themselves as Latino/Hispanic.
The racial/ethnic composition of the elderly of Region 1-C differs from that of the
general population. The elderly population is more White, non-Hispanic than the
population as a whole – 92 vs. 85 percent, and tends to run at about half the overall share
in most minority categories. The elderly share for African-Americans is slightly higher
2 The 2000 Census allowed respondents for the first time to choose more than one race. The Office of
Services to the Aging tabulated minority population to include these multi-race respondents, in addition to
the single-race respondents who listed African-American, Native American, Asian, Native Hawaiian or
other Pacific Islander, or Other Race.
3 Race identification in Table 5 is associated with single race responses. In other words, the count of
African-Americans is based on the number of respondents who listed only African-American on their
census questionnaire. If they listed African-American and another race they were counted as Multi-racial.
A Demographic Profile of Seniors in PSA 1-C 5