Demographic Profile of Senior in Wayne County, Michigan

Table 14. Population 60 Years+ At or Below 150% Poverty in Region 1-C by Community, 1999
Community
Number
Share of
Region
Community
Number
Share of
Region
Region 1-C 22,322
Allen Park city 648 2.9 Northville township 220 1.0
Belleville city 194 0.9 Plymouth city 189 0.8
Brownstown township 236 1.1 Plymouth township 196 0.9
Canton township 564 2.5 Redford township 1,113 5.0
Dearborn city 3,221 14.4 River Rouge city 306 1.4
Dearborn Heights city 1,407 6.3 Riverview city 333 1.5
Ecorse city 509 2.3 Rockwood city 66 0.3
Flat Rock city 150 0.7 Romulus city 638 2.9
Garden City city 700 3.1 Southgate city 1,057 4.7
Gibraltar city 69 0.3 Sumpter township 250 1.1
Grosse Ile township 152 0.7 Taylor city 1,298 5.8
Huron township 151 0.7 Trenton city 516 2.3
Inkster city 1,049 4.7 Van Buren township 264 1.2
Lincoln Park city 965 4.3 Wayne city 505 2.3
Livonia city 2,029 9.1 Westland city 2,043 9.2
Melvindale city 370 1.7 Woodhaven city 131 0.6
Northville city 81 0.4 Wyandotte city 737 3.3
Living Arrangements
Three out of every ten households 8 in the region have at least one person 60 years and
over as a member (see Table 15). The share ranges from a low of 16.8 percent in Van
Buren township to highs of 39.8 and 39.7 percent in Dearborn Heights and Trenton,
respectively. When a household contains at least one person 60+, there is a 4 in 10
chance (39.2 percent) that it will be a one-person household. This rate is highest in
Plymouth where it reaches better than 1 out of 2 (54 percent), and lowest in Sumpter
township at 25.3 percent.
A further analysis of living arrangements for persons 65+ and 75+ (see Table 16) shows a
correlation between increasing age and the percent that live alone. While 39 percent of
households with persons 60 years and over are one-person households, the share rises to
42 percent at 65+ and 49 percent at 75+. While this is a significant percentage, it needs
to be emphasized that more than at least 60 percent of persons 60+ and 51 percent of
persons 75+ share their household with at least one other person.
One community that needs to be looked at more closely is Dearborn. Previous data
demonstrated that its elderly residents had some of the highest need, based on their level
of poverty. Table 16 shows that Dearborn’s rate of seniors living alone is higher than the
8 Household - Includes all the persons who occupy a housing unit. Persons not living in households are
classified as living in group quarters. Households are subdivided into family households and non-family
households. The occupants may be a single family, one person living alone, two or more families living
together, or any other group of related or unrelated persons who share living arrangements.
A Demographic Profile of Seniors in PSA 1-C 14