CHICAGO (AP) Seniors in major metropolitan areas, especially in the Northeast and around Washington, D.C., are more likely to continue working past age 65 than those in other areas around the country, according to an analysis of Census data by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Those are the areas where all of the jobs are, really, says Anqi Chen, assistant director for savings research at Boston Colleges Center for Retirement Research. The coastal areas recovered well from the recession, while other areas have not.
But its also the types of jobs in those areas government, finance, law and academia that keep seniors working longer, analysts say.
Among counties with at least 6,000 residents, about 12% have at least 21% of their seniors working or actively looking for jobs, according to an analysis of the Census 2017 American Community Survey report. Of that group, nearly 25% are located within the Northeast or in Maryland or Virginia. And nearly 15% are within 70 miles (113 kilometers) of New York, Boston, Philadelphia or Washington, D.C.
I consider myself to be a very fortunate person to still do what I loved at 27 at 74, says Steve Burghardt, a professor of social work at the City University of New York. I feel advantaged being in New York, where youre exposed to sights and sounds and differences that are always exposing me to new ways to understand myself and to learn from other people.
Two Washington suburbs, Falls Church, Virginia, and Alexandria, Virginia, are among the nations leaders in terms of senior labor force participation, with rates of nearly 37% and nearly 30%, respectively. This area is also home to one of the fastest growing senior labor forces in the country three of the 11 counties that saw senior participation rates climb the fastest between 2009 and 2017 are located within 70 miles (113 kilometers) of Washington.
But large, populous counties dont have a monopoly on senior participation in the labor force.
Vermont, one of the least populous states, holds two counties that rank among the top 100 (Windham and Washington counties) and eight among the top 329 in terms of senior participation.
Despite whatever misnomers might exist, there is a great demand out there for mature workers, says Mary Branagan, director of program and partner affairs at Associates for Training and Development, a workforce training and development outfit headquartered in Vermont.
Branagan helps oversee the states Senior Community Service Employment program, which matches qualifying unemployed state residents at least 55 years of age with paid internships that can help them update their skills and remain in the workplace longer. She says her companys offices in Washington and Windham counties are among its largest statewide.
In other areas of the country, Colorado has six of the top 50 counties both in terms of senior labor force participation in 2017 and participation growth between 2009 and 2017.
And rural counties heavy in agricultural employment, especially in Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa, boast a considerable senior labor participation rate.
Though the jobs are often labor intensive, agricultural professions maintain some of the highest median ages in the country, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Thats due in part to much of U.S. agriculture being concentrated in family farms, the Department of Agriculture says. People can continue living and working on these operations well into their retirement years by scaling things down and renting land to other farmers.
Paul Irving, chairman of the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging, sees the older workers as a boon to regional economies, providing additional talent and expertise to tight labor markets in which unemployment tends to be low and where job openings are aplenty. The additional payroll taxes these workers provide and the economic stimulus that comes with working also are considered positives for these graying labor markets.
