Ohio’s population over the age of 60 is expected to grow 30 percent by 2020, but by that time Athens County could have one of the lowest percentages of the 60-plus population in the state.
The projection was released by the state in its 2013 annual report and uses statistics from the Scripps Gerontology Center, a research branch of Miami University that works to support aging societies.
About 20 percent of Athens County is predicted to be 60 years or older by 2020. That would make Athens the county with the third least-eldest residents in the state, led only by Franklin County, where Ohio State University is located, at 18.1 percent and Union County, which neighbors Franklin, at 18 percent.
Mike Turner, executive director of United Seniors of Athens County, said the student population of Ohio University is the cause of the county’s low percentage of 60-plus residents, which, though it is growing, still can’t match the number of young people descending on Athens each year to study.
The high number of 18-22 year olds living in Athens while they attend OU skew the figures, Turner said.
Meanwhile, OU’s Athens campus population grew from 16,562 in 2006, the earliest information available, to 17,007 for the university’s 2012 Fall Semester, a growth of a little more than 2 percent in six years, according to the Ohio University Fact Book.
The number of 15-24 year olds in Athens County in 2010 was 22,664 according to the center’s data, which was significantly higher than other age groups.
There were about 9,400 Athens County residents 60 years or older in 2010, and there could be slightly more than 12,000 by 2020, according to the data. That’s a growth of about 27 percent over 10 years.
Not all counties that play host to a university see such a drastic difference between age group populations, though. Butler and Wood counties, home to Miami University and Bowling Green State University, respectively, are two such examples.
In Butler County, the projected number of 15-24 year olds is 60,571 and for 60 and older is 87, 459. Wood County, which has a smaller population, is projected to have 22,675 people 15-24 year old and 30,534 people aged 60 or older.
Southeast Ohio counties neighboring Athens — such as Meigs and Hocking — would be in the high 20 percent rage, with the exception of Washington County, which is projected to have 32 percent of its residents over the age of 60.
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