People 65 and older make up less than 10 percent of Columbia’s population and 14 percent of Missouri’s population, according to the U.S. Census.
The national average for that age category is 12 percent, which means Columbia is a young city in a slightly older state.
Richard Hessler, professor emeritus for the MU department of sociology, said one possible explanation for the difference is that the university and Columbia’s health care industry attract young workers and their families.
Teresa Cooney, MU professor in Human Development and Family Studies, agreed.
“Columbia isn’t likely to see as much out-migration of the younger population, and this will help to keep our population relatively young compared with the rest of the state,” she said.
However, the baby boomer generation, ages 55 to 62, will change the demographics of Columbia in the next few years, Hessler said.
“Just last month, 22 million people turned 62 in the U.S.,” he said. “We’re (Columbia) sort of an island of younger people; younger than we should be.”
Cooney said Columbia might see a less drastic age change than the rest of the nation because of the consistently high number of young adults.
People ages 15 to 34 constitute 43 percent of Columbia’s population, and adults ages 35 to 54 constitute 24 percent. That means collectively, 67 percent of Columbia is between the ages of 15 and 54.
Hessler said this causes people in Columbia to ignore services older people are going to need. “When you live here, you don’t get a feel for what’s going on around the state and nationally.”