COLUMBIA COUNTY'S POPULATION AGES:
NOW THE THIRD OLDEST COUNTY IN NYS


Mike McCagg
ccSCOOP News

05-13-11 - Columbia County is old. Not just historically speaking, but population wise.

Demographic data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on May 12 supports what many longtime – Ok, old – residents suspected; the county is home to the mature crowd, the “blue hairs”, the “Earls and Maudes.” In fact, one might even hazard an educated guess that there are more wheel chairs and walkers in the county than motorcycles, sports cars and other ‘thrill’ machines.

According to data gathered by the 2010 census, the county’s median age is 45.3 years – the third oldest median age in New York State. The county’s median age is seven years older than the state median age of 38. But, while the state’s median age grew by three years since the 2000 census, the median age of Columbia County’s population advanced five years in the past decade, up from 40-years-old at the turn of the century.

Even more telling of the aging population in the county is the breakdown by age. The three largest percentages of county residents’ age groups are 45-49, which accounted for 8.4 percent of the population, 50-54, which likewise accounted for 8.4 percent of the population, and 55-59 years old, which accounted for 8 percent of the population. The 60-64 demographic grabbed 7.5 percent of the population, meaning 32.3 percent of the county’s population is between the ages of 45 and 64.

Meanwhile, no other age demographic accounted for more than 7 percent of the population and only the 40-44 age group, with 6.9 percent, and the 15-to 19-year-old demographic, with 6.6 percent of the population, came close.
The aging county population is bound to have an impact on the county financially and otherwise.

From medical and emergency services, which are called upon more by aging demographics than the younger crowd, to transportation, which is a huge issue in a county with only a fledgling countywide bus service.

On a grander scale, the aging population does not necessarily provide the workforce that industry is looking for when choosing new locations, especially the high tech industry such as Global Foundries, which is creating a billion dollar operation two counties away in Saratoga County.

Elsewhere

Rural Hamilton County, in the Leatherstocking region of the state just west of Schenectady, has the highest median age in the state at 51.3-years, while the second-oldest county in New York is Delaware at 45.4 years. The youngest counties in the state were Tompkins - 29.8-years - which includes Ithaca and is home to Cornell University, and Jefferson County – which has a median age of 32.6 years.

Meanwhile, the median age in New York City was 35.5 in 2010.

As was reported in March, the 2010 census found Columbia County’s population was stagnant in the last decade with the county boasting only 63,096 residents, a gain of just two people from 63,094 in 2000.