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Wednesday, July 01, 2020  01:00 PM  (39)

Changing Age Demographics in the Pittsburgh Region

On June 24, the Census Bureau released detailed county-level population estimates for 2019. County-level estimates of the total population in 2019 were released earlier this year. The latest release includes additional data on the characteristics of the population including breakdowns by age, race and ethnicity for individual counties from 2010 to 2019.

Like the nation, the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is getting older, with an increasing proportion of the population made of the population age 65 and over. In 2019, the population age 65 and over made up an estimated 20.5% of the regional population, an increase from 17.3% in 2010. Over the same period, the nation’s population age 65 and over increased from 13.1% of total population in 2010 to an estimated 16.5% in 2019.

Proportion of Population Age 65 and Over - Pittsburgh MSA and the United States, 2010 to 2019

While the Pittsburgh region continues to have an older age demographic than the nation, the size of the region’s elderly population is growing significantly slower than across the United States. Between 2010 and 2019, the regional population age 65 and over increased 16.8%, from 407,055 in 2010 to an estimated 475,336 in 2019. Over the same period, the national population age 65 and over increased 33.5%, from 40.5 million in 2010 to an estimated 54.1 million in 2019.

While all counties in the Pittsburgh MSA have grown older over the most recent decade, aging has not been uniform across the region. For 2019, the percentage of the population age 65 and over ranged from 19.3% in Allegheny County to 23.3% in Westmoreland County. Beaver County experienced the slowest growth in the population age 65 and over, increasing by 14.0% between 2010 and 2019. Butler County experienced the largest growth in the population age 65 and over, increasing by 30.4% over the same period. 2019 is the first year this decade Butler County did not have the lowest percentage of population age 65 and over within the Pittsburgh MSA.  

Population Age 65 and Over - Pittsburgh MSA Counties, 2010 and 2019

Census Bureau population estimates utilize current data on births, deaths, and migration to calculate population change since the most recent decennial year. Annual population estimates presented here reflect population on July 1 of each year. Population estimates for 2019 are the last series of population estimates the Census Bureau will release before the completion of the 2020 Decennial Census, which is a complete enumeration of the nation’s population. The results of the 2020 Decennial Census may differ from the most recent population estimates presented here. Data from the 2020 Census will be released beginning this December and running all through 2021. 

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