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- [Briggs] What is going on, everyone?
Welcome back to "The World According to Briggs"
and a video about getting older.
We all, with any luck, will someday retire
and be a senior citizen.
Where you live as a senior is very important,
cost, weather, taxes, healthcare
all play a big part as we age.
In the next decade, seniors will be more than 20%
of the US population.
That's up from 15% in the 2020 Census.
And that's according to the Census Bureau, obviously.
In 2020, the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey
estimated that 52 million Americans are 65 years or older.
And about 25% of them live in just three states,
California, Texas, and Florida.
Those are the three largest states with good weather
most of the year.
So obviously, they will have a larger population
in almost every demographic.
Today we rank these states by what percentage
of the state is over 65 and how much higher that is
compared to the national average.
The national average is 14.5%
of a state's population is 65 or above.
But today's question is,
what states have the highest percentage
of their population over 65 and why?
Let's take a look.
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Number 10, Arizona.
Sure. Why not?
It's nice and warm,
decent weather that can get a little warm at times,
tons of golf courses, assisted living, nursing homes,
and healthcare costs are less than the national average.
They also have a low property tax and income tax
and no inheritance or state tax.
So when you finally go to the great beyond,
the state won't be taking too much from your kids
or a 25-year-old stripper you met on your 82nd birthday.
Yeah, that really happened.
That's how Anna Nicole Smith got a bunch of money.
Arizona has about 1.2 million seniors.
That's about 16.7% of the state's population.
That's about 9.5% above the national average.
Now to break it down for you,
in between 65 and 74, you've got about 674,000 seniors.
And then between 75 and 84,
that's about 355,000,
and then 85 and older, that's about 128,000.
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Number nine, New Hampshire.
This is a little surprising because we all know
most of New England gets very cold
for a handful of months every single year.
That's not slowing down the seniors
from living in New Hampshire.
The Granite State isn't warm enough
to offer year-round golf like Arizona does,
but it is beautiful enough
that if you like to just walk through the woods
and go to nice parks,
New Hampshire's a great option.
On top of that, they have great farmer's markets
all throughout the state.
The cost of living in New Hampshire is lower than most
of the New England states.
I mean, except for Connecticut.
Only about 5% of the seniors living in New Hampshire
live in poverty,
which is far lower than any other state in the union.
They don't have a tax on salaries or wages,
and there's no sales tax,
but property taxes can get kinda high.
So maybe if you're a renter,
this might be a really good option.
17% of the state's population is over 65.
That's about 11.5 above the national average.
To break it down for you, 65 to 74,
you got about 135,000 in that category,
75 to 84, you got about 62,000,
and then 85 or older,
and there's about 29,000 New Hampshire residents
that are over 85.
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Number eight, Hawaii.
I'm surprised they're this high up on the list.
I mean, talk to any senior.
It's like their dream is to live in Hawaii.
It's just too expensive for most of them,
so that's why they don't.
But if you can handle the high cost of living,
Hawaii has a lot of bonuses,
the weather, obviously, it's a tropical fricking island,
beautiful beaches, beautiful land,
the longest life expectancy of all the US states.
They have a low property and sales tax.
So even though its cost of living's really high,
that's kinda nice.
But 17.3% of the state's population is over 65.
That's about 13.5% above the national average.
Let's break it down for you.
Seniors between 65 and 74, that's about 139,000,
between 75 and 84, that's about 68,000,
and 85 or older is about 38,000.
Now keep in mind, Hawaii's not a giant state,
so that's a lot.
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Number seven, Pennsylvania.
The Keystone State is on my short list
of places I wanna retire,
been that way for a couple years now.
I like it because it's a beautiful state.
It does get really cold during the winters,
but still it is a beautiful, beautiful state.
A lot of seniors move there because most costs
are below the national average,
and the state government spends a lot of money on seniors.
They have great healthcare networks,
they're investing in medical facilities,
and tons of things for seniors to do,
especially seniors that like the great outdoors.
There are 2.2 million seniors in the state of Pennsylvania,
giving them about 17.4% of the state's population.
And that's about 14.1% above the national average.
Breaking down the demographics,
seniors aged 65 to 74, that's about 1.2 million of them,
seniors from 75 to 84, that's about 670,000,
and seniors, 85 and older, it's about 325,000.
Pennsylvania is a great option for seniors.
I mean, if you can get past the cold,
everything else is pretty decent.
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Number six, Delaware, the First State.
Delaware's been very popular with seniors
for quite a few years.
I'm not sure how much longer that's gonna go on.
The cost of living's going up a little bit higher
than other states, especially in that area.
Rent and home prices have gone up over 10%
in the last few years,
but they do have low property taxes and no sales tax,
so that's great.
One other plus about living in Delaware as a senior,
it's not too far from New York City,
Washington, DC, or Philadelphia.
So if history's your thing, there's a lot of options there.
And Atlantic City's relatively close too,
for those seniors that are into high stakes bingo.
According to the US Census,
there is 168,000 seniors living in Delaware.
That's about 17.6% of the state population.
And that's about 15.4% above the national average.
Let me break down the demographics for ya.
Seniors aged 65 to 74, that's just under 100,000,
75 to 84, it's about 50,000,
and 85 or older, it's almost 19,000.
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Number five, Montana.
You know, I get asked all the time,
which is better, Wyoming or Montana?
People always lump those two together
like they're the same place.
They're very different.
They just happen to be next door.
But I'll tell you one group of people
that really like Montana more than Wyoming.
It's the seniors.
Wyoming's not even on this list.
And here's Montana at number five.
There's a lot of reasons seniors like Montana.
My guess is one of the main ones is the great outdoors.
This is a beautiful state.
If you're a senior that hikes or fish,
this is one of your best options in the entire country.
Winters can be a little rough, like so many other places,
but they got really low property tax,
there's no sales tax.
They do kind of tax all your retirement,
so that kind of sucks.
Some states don't.
When you look at healthcare, this is where Montana shines,
especially the per capita.
They have more hospitals per capita
than any other state in the union.
And if you've ever had to wait two weeks for an appointment,
you can appreciate this.
The senior population of Montana is 183,000.
That's about 17.6% of the state's population,
putting them about 15.4% above the national average.
Let's break down the age ranges here,
seniors aged 65 to 74, that's about 109,000 of them.
Seniors aged 75 to 84, 53,000,
and over 85, you got about 21,000.
This is not a very populated state.
Those are kinda high numbers.
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Number four, Vermont.
The Green Mountain State has become more and more popular
in recent years, not just with seniors, with everyone.
But with seniors, it's very popular
because of the natural beauty and its amazing small towns.
They have some beautiful small towns.
Now their cost of living is pretty high
and so is their housing.
It's well above the national average.
They tax your Social Security income,
but Vermont residents, especially seniors,
are extremely healthy, healthier than most other states.
A few different studies have listed Vermont in the top five
for having seniors with the best mental health,
not a lot of depression amongst seniors here.
If you ever visit Vermont in the summer or the winter,
you'll see it's kinda hard to be depressed here.
It's just that beautiful.
Vermont's a great state.
Vermont's senior population is about 114,000 residents.
That's about 18.2% of the state,
and that's about 19.4% above the national average.
The numbers for the different age ranges are 65 to 74,
you got almost 69,000 seniors,
75 to 84, you got 31,000,
and seniors 85 years or older, that's only about 13,000,
not a big state, not a ton of people,
but they got a lot of retirees.
Oddly, I mean, this is a cold state most,
not most of the year, but you know what I mean.
It gets cold, and it stays that way for quite a few months.
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Number three, West Virginia.
Why do seniors go to West Virginia?
Well, it's a great option if you don't need a job.
They don't have many jobs,
and the state struggles financially,
but there's some good things about that.
It's dirt cheap,
housing, cost of living,
everything is cheap in West Virginia.
So if you're on a fixed income,
this is probably one of your best options.
It's a beautiful state too.
I mean, it does have its problems.
Don't get me wrong.
I'm not trying to sugarcoat anything,
but those problems really only affect
a certain amount of the residents.
And if you've got your own income coming in,
you don't need one from a job or anything like that,
this is probably the best option for anyone.
On top of that, young people are flooding out of the state.
There's just not enough work to keep them there.
So needless to say,
the 65 and over crowd is the fastest growing portion
of West Virginia's population.
When it comes to assisted living and healthcare costs,
it's one of the cheapest in the nation.
Now, the downside is one in 10 seniors in West Virginia
do live in poverty.
So that kinda sucks.
But like I said, this is a great place
if you have a fixed income,
and you wanna live a little cheaper.
The state's senior population is 344,000 residents.
That's about 18.8% of the population.
And that's about 23.3% above the national average.
Seniors 65 to 74, well, that's about 200,000 residents,
seniors 75 to 84, 101,000 residents,
85 and older, you got about 40,000 residents.
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Number two, Maine.
Much like Hawaii, if you've got some money in retirement,
Maine might be a great option
if you're one of those cold weather people like myself.
I'm never going to retire to some place
that's hot most of the year.
It's just not my thing.
So Maine for people like myself is a solid option.
Amazing outdoors, good food, good restaurants,
tons of recreation.
A lot of the seniors living in Maine live in the cities
for a few different reasons,
but one of the main ones is access to health care.
It's kinda hard to get to your doctor
when you live 40 miles outside of town and it's winter.
When you got a lot of seniors in town, that's good,
a lot of people your age, things to do, friends to make.
I guess the downside of that is crowds
during early bird dinners or something.
The senior population in Maine is about 259,000 residents.
That's about 19.4% of the population,
and that gives them about 27.2 above the national average.
That's a pretty high number for a cold weather state.
Bringing it down by the age groups,
you got 65 to 74 being about 152,000,
75 to 84, you got 73,000,
and 85 and older, it looks like it's about 34,000.
All right, before we get to number one, don't forget,
we have another channel called On This Day.
There is a link down below.
We would love it if you'd go take a look, maybe subscribe,
watch a couple videos,
give this video a big thumbs up,
leave a comment.
All right, onto number one.
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And number one, Florida.
Yes, imagine that,
Florida has a bunch of retirees or seniors.
Obviously, it's the warm weather
that attracts the seniors to Florida, has forever.
But what most people don't realize is
they've got really good healthcare in Florida,
especially when you're talking about senior citizens.
They've got tax breaks designed for older residents,
which just brings in more.
Just looking at basic economics,
not getting too deep into it,
you'd think that having seniors
is a really good thing for a state.
They're contributing to the local economy
by buying things,
and they don't need jobs.
So for a state or a city or something like that,
they're kind of a win-win situation with them.
But if you move to Florida,
and especially if you stay in the coastal areas,
you will not be alone in your age group.
Florida has 4.1 million seniors.
That's a lot of seniors.
That's actually 19.8% of the state's population,
putting them at 29.2% above the national average.
Now, in the different age groups,
you're looking at seniors from 65 to 74,
that's 2.2 million Florida residents,
75 to 84, that's 1.3 million Florida residents,
and 85 and older, you're looking at 535,000.
That is a lot of seniors,
and a whole bunch of cats, I imagine.
Cats or little dogs.
All right, that's today's video.
Hope you guys enjoyed it.
Hope you got some information out of it.
Now go out, have a great day,
be nice to each other.
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