B-1150
March 1975

JUN 25 1975

 Texawm’ “mversiw
Qlder
Population
of
Texos

    
  
   

The Texas A&M University System - The Texas Agricultural Experiment Station - The Texas Agricultura1 Extension Service

  Contents

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SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION
Purpose and Scope 
Definition of Older Population
Sources of Data

NUMBERS OF OLDER PERSONS
, Growth Trend
Older Persons in Texas and the Nation
Older Population in Relation to A
Other Age Groups
Older Persons Compared to the Young

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION

AGE AND SEX COMPOSITION
Age Composition
Sex Composition

RACIAL AND ETHNIC COMPOSITION
General Trend
Geographic Distribution
Age and Sex

RESIDENTIAL COMPOSITION
Rural and Urban Areas
Size of Place
Metropolitan and N onmetropolitan Areas
Sex and Race

SELECTED SOCIO-ECONOMIC

CHARACTERISTICS
Marital Status
Living Arrangements
Employment Status
Income Status

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
APPENDIX

Summary

This publication analyzes some of the significant
demographic characteristics of the older population of
Texas. It includes projections to 1980 and points out some
of their implications. Some of the more significant find-

ings follow.

The estimated number of older persons (age 65 and
over) in- Texas in 1974 was 1, 107,000, up by 115,000 since
1970. The number of older persons has been increasing at
a considerably faster rate than the State’s total popula-
tion. As a result they comprised 1 out of every 11 Texans
in 1970, as contrasted with only 1 out of 68 in 1870 and 1

out of 42 in 1900. Projections for I980 indicate an older

population in Texas of 1,230,000.

As older people continue their rapid increase in
numbers and make up an increasingly larger share of the
total population, they will receive wider public attention.
They will have a broader role to play in politics, and more
attention will be given to their recreation and housing
needs, to different kinds of retirement and pension pro-
grams and to medical and welfare services for older

people.

1», 

Older persons, like the general population, are un-

j evenly distributed in the State. They comprised 25 per-
) cent or more of the total population in at least three
 counties (Hamilton, Mills and Llano) in 1970. Theymade
. up more than 1 out of 5 in 31 other counties. On the other
 hand, older people made up less than 1 out of every 21
g residents in Ector and Randall counties.

Not only is the number of persons reaching their

 65th birthday increasing at a rapid rate, the fastest growth
 rates are occurring among the very oldest persons. The

 number of persons 65 to 74 increased by 27 percent

4 between 1960 and 1970, while those aged 75 to 84 in-

 creased by 39 percent and those persons 85 years and
 over,- by 7O percent. In 1940, persons 85 years old and
7 older comprised 1 out of every 22 older people, but by
.0 1970 they made up 1 out of every 14.

Since women live, on the average,‘ about 8 years

 longer than men and since the margin by which they
f: outlive males has increased materially since 1900, female
i numerical superiority is rapidly increasing among older
 people. As late as 1940, there were over 5,000 more men
71 than women aged 65 and over, but by 1950 older women
* outnumbered older men by more than 25,000. Their
 margin in numbers increased to more than 71,000 in 1960
‘B’ and to almost 156,000 in 1970. Older women outnumber
j. older men by an increasingly wider margin as they ad-
  vance in age. There are 79 males per 100 females in the
i_ group 65 to 74 years of age; 66 males per 100 females 75 to
 84 years old; and only 54 men per 100 women aged 85
9 years and over.

In 1970, older people comprised only 8 percent of

9 the total population living in cities, but they represented
 12 percent in rural nonfarm and 15 percent in rural farm
~, areas. They made up only 4.4 percent of the population
1' living in the fringe or suburban sections surrounding
1 larger cities and only 7.8 percent in central cities of
 urbanized areas.

The number of nonwhite older persons in Texas has

l l‘ been increasing at a slower rate than that of older whites.
I In 1900, one out of every five older Texans was nonwhite;
L. by 1970 they made up ‘one out of every eight older
3; persons. In 1900 there were 390 older whites per 100
 older nonwhites in Texas, but by 1970 this margin was
f, increased to 755 older whites per 100 older nonwhites.

The typical older male (75.3 percent) is married, and

 the typical older woman (53.8 percent) is a widow.

Widowhood increases rapidly with eachadvancement in
age, particularly for women. The proportion of older
women who are widows increases‘ from 42.5 percent at
ages 65 to 74, to 68.2 percent at ages 75 to 84 and to 81.5
percent for those 85 years of age and older.

Contrary to the popular view, only a small propor-
tion of Texas’ older population (5. 6 percent) live in group
quarters. At the sametime, the number of older people
living in homes for the aged quadrupled between 1960
and 1970. Their numbers increased from 11,558 to

46,872 during this 10-year period. Rates of elderly group} 

residents are at their lowest levels for both men an
women 65 to 69 years of age, and the rate rises steadily
with increasing age. Approximately 3 out of every 10
older people living in homes for the aged in 1970 were 85
years of age, and over. The number of older persons
residing in homes for the aged will undoubtedly increase
rapidly in the 1970’s since attitudes of both older people
and their children are becoming more favorable toward
this type of living arrangement.

With larger numbers of young people ready to enter
the labor market annually and with the need to advance
younger workers, an increase in both voluntary and com-
pulsory retirements has taken place in recent years. At
the same time the proportion of older persons in the labor
force has declined only slightly during the last decade,
with women actually showing a slight increase. In gen-
eral, higher proportions of older males (29.6 percent)
than older females (10.8 percent) are in the labor force,
and smaller proportions of both sexes are in the labor

force as they advance in age. Older workers in Texas I

constituted only 4.2 percent of the States total labor
force in 1970, while older persons made up 8.9 percent
of the total population.

Income continues to be a problem for many older
persons. In 1969 the median income of families where
the head of the household was an older person and both
husband and wife were living was $4,153. While this was
a considerably higher amount in 1969 than 10 years pre-
viously, the income level grew much less rapidly in con-
stant dollars and still was less than half the income of all
Texas families in 1969 where the head of the household
was a male with wife present. Theamount of family
income received is progressively less as the age of the
household head increases. The‘ median income of older
unrelated individuals (those not living with any relatives)
was $1,635 in 1969.

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

1, 000, 000

900,000

800,

700,000

65-74 75-84 85 & Over

n“.
é,

600,000
g Percent Increase in Older Population,
E by Age Groups, 1960-70
D
Z 500,000

400,

300,000

200,000

100,

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970
Year
The Older Population (Age 65 and over) of Texas, by Sex, 1900-1970
4

  
   
 

 

The
  Older
Population

O

  Texo s

Giant strides have been made in the United States in
increasing human life expectancy. This has been possible
through improved arts and techniques by which hazards
of living are reduced and death is delayed. Through
increased knowledge and preventive medicine, better
diets and control of life-taking communicable diseases,
man’s chances of living longer have been increased
greatly.

A baby born in the United States in 1800 had an
average life expectancy of around 35 years. By 1900 the
average age at death for babies born that year had in-
creased to 48. Youngsters born in 1974, however, have an
average life expectancy of slightly more than 71 years. So
rapid has life expectancy increased that a baby born in the
United States at the present time has a better chance of
living to 60 than a youngster born in 1850 had of reaching

  A its fifth birthday.

While man’s increased life expectancy has some ad-
vantages, it also created circumstances which did not
exist among previous generations of Americans. One of
these has been the development of a society with increas-
ingly larger numbers of people in the older age brackets.

Few demographic developments have received
such wide public attention in recent years as the rapidly
growing numbers of older people. In recognition of this

*Respectively, professor, Texas Real Estate Research Center and De-
partment of Sociology and Anthropology; former assistant professor,
the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (Department of Agricul-
tural Economics and Rural Sociology) and Department of Sociology
and Anthropology, Texas A&M University, at present, associate pro-
fessor, State College of Arkansas, Conway, Arkansas; and former
instructor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Texas A&M
University, at present, associate professor, Stephen F. Austin State
University, Nacogdoches, Texas.

R. L. Skrabanek,
W. Kennedy Upham and
BeniE. Dickerson*

trend, the Presidenfs Council on Aging was established
in 1962 and the Texas Governors Committee on Aging in
1965. Since May 1963, each President of the United
States has designated May as Senior Citizens Month.
This has been changed in 1974 to Older Americans
Month and, for Texas, Older Texans Month. In 1965
Congress passed the Older Americans Act, establishing
the Administration on Aging in the Department of
Health, Education and Welfare. This provided funds for
the first time for a major organization within the Federal
government to act as the focal point for all governmental
activities regarding older persons and as a clearinghouse
for information related to problems of the aged and the
aging. Also for the first time, funds were provided to
assist states and local communities in establishing and
carrying out programs specifically for older people. In
June 1974, it was announced that in the latter part of the
year a National Institute on Aging was to be formally
established within the National Institutes of Health.

The general public has had to learn the meaning of
gerontology (the study of the aged) and" geriatrics (the
subdivision of medicine which is concerned with old age
and its diseases). As the elderly have increased rapidly in
numbers and have come to present a larger proportion of
the total population, some new situations have developed
in American society which can be expected to become
more critical in future years. More attention will be given
directly to recreation, housing and other conveniences to
provide the types of facilities needed by older citizens.
Political figures will direct more of their attention to the
aged, and bills introduced in legislative bodies will reflect
the numerical strength of older people. Pension plans
will have to be arranged so that amounts contributed
before retirement will be balanced against payments re-
ceived after retirement. Medical and welfare services for

5

older people will be expanded as will retirement homes
and similar facilities. Means of combating loneliness in
the lives of older persons will receive closer study. Much
thought will be directed toward keeping larger numbers
of older people occupationally active, since many under
present involuntary retirement policies have 25 to 35
years of living in retirement and are made to feel that
they have little to contribute to modern society.

In recognition of these needs, the following funds
were allocated through the Texas Governofs Committee
on Aging in 1973: $3.29 million under Title III of the
Older Americans Act for social services and for the estab-
lishment of Area Agencies on Aging; $4. 77 million under
Title VII of the Older Americans Act for nutrition pro-
grams; and $200,000 in state funds for the Senior Texans
Employment Program (STEP). There is little doubt that
as older persons increase in numbers, the amount of
funding for programs for the aged will increase materially
at the local, state and federal levels.

Pu rpose and Scope

This publication deals with the demographic charac-
teristics of the older population of Texas — their num-
bers; geographic distribution; age, sex, residential and
racial composition; and other important demographic
phenomena. The purpose of the report is to bring to-
gether in one publication information on the older adults
of Texas in a meaningful and useful form that will be
helpful to people and agencies interested in and working
with the problems of people at these age levels. The
publication grew mainly out of a recognition that Texas
and the nation are developing a large population of older
people, that they have unique problems and interests
and that more needs to be known about them as a group.

Older adults carry in themselves, as it were, the
history of the past, and changes over time are reflected in

  present differences between older persons and the rest of

the population. For example, the schooling of today’s
older citizens is considered inadequate by present stan-
dards; their occupations and those of their parents are
vastly different from today’s occupations. Their life styles
differ greatly from those of the general population as well
as from the life styles of persons considered old during
the period when they were born — around the turn of the
twentieth century. The needs of older people are differ-
ent in many respects from those of any other group. This
holds even for the customary essentials of life: food,
housing, clothing and medical care.

Increased activity in recent years in the field of aging
has not been confined to the State and Federal govern-
ments. Many towns and cities have organized to deal with
one or more aspects of older people’s problems. The
Texas Agricultural Extension Service employs specialists
who work with personnel at the county level in planning
for the needs of older adults. Activity centers sponsored
by municipalities and voluntary organizations which
work with older adults have increased greatly in number.
Some communities provide older citizens with better
housing: recreational facilities, opportunities for adult
education, job counseling and opportunities for employ-
ment. Many segments of society are engaged in this effort

6 .

— physicians, medical and research personnel, clergy-
men, educators, social workers, recreation specialists,
government officials, civic leaders and people from many
other different walks of life. This report is especially
designed for these people as well as for agencies primarily
in positions involving" action and planning for the older
people of Texas.

Definition of OlderiPopulation

As used in this publication, the older population
includes all persons 65 years 0f age and over. Several
terms popularly used to describe groups of people at
these age levels include “aged,” “older adults,” “wnior
citizens,” “old people” and “the elderly.” However, a
number of persons 65 years of age and older express an
aversion to these terms as applied to themselves. While it
is realized that the chronological age of a person does not
automatically qualify an individual as a member of the
“older population,” demographers tend to classify all
persons 65 years of age and over in this category, particu-
larly since 65 has come to be accepted as the age of
expected retirement.

Since the older population is not a single homogene-
ous mass and since their characteristics tend to vary
sharply in several ways, it is necessary to consider them
from several different oints of view. For convenience
and simplicity in discussion, however, the single broad
age group, 65 years and over, is often selected for de-
tailed consideration.

Sou rces of Data

The data used in this publication were largely ob-
tained directly or derived from a variety of Bureau of the
Census publications. However, certain data not available
in print were derived from magnetic summary tapes’ of

the 1970 census belon ing to the Texas A&M University
Library. In order to eep the presentation in simple

form, the sources of individual quoted figures are not
documented, but documentation is included where data
are presented intabular form.

NUMBERS OF OLDER PERSONS
Growth Trend

Interest in the older population in recent years has
been intensified at least partly because of their rapidly
growing numbers. Furthermore, population projections
indicate that the need for concern with a large older
population will remain with the State indefinitely.

The number of Texans who were aged 65 and over in
1900 was only 74,000, Table I and Figure 1. By 1930 the
initial 74,000 more than tripled to 232,000, and that

. number more than quadrupled by 1970. In the year 1980

older Texans are projected to number around 1,230,000.

The older population increased by one-third during
the last decade. This rapid increase resulted from several
factors. First, the number of births in the United States
increased steadily between 1895 and 1905, when those
who reached age 65 between 1960 and 1970 were born.
Second, a much larger proportion of the nation s babies
are now surviving to 659 years and beyond than was for-

 

mm
4-1:

AGE 65
AND OVER

In Thousands

             

         

:1. flsir‘;
1 920

1910

1950 1960 1970 1980
‘Projected

1900 1930

 

A Figure 1. Increase in the population of older Texans from 1900 t0 1970

and projected to 1980.

j merly the case. Third, immigrants t0 the United States in

the latter years of the 19th century and early years of the

 20th century now are also reaching age 65. Fourth, Texas

has had an influx of older persons from outside the State.

l‘ For example, migration estimates prepared by the

Bureau of the Census indicates that the age cohort 65 and
over in 1970 (55 and over in 1960) had a net in-migration

l of almost 53,000 persons between 1960 and 1970. This is

about one-fourth of the total net migration into Texas that
occurred during the last decade.

r TABLE 1. NUMBER AND PERCENT OF OLDER PERSONS IN

TEXAS, 1870-1970, ESTIMATES FOR 1974 AND PROJECTIONS
FOR 1980

Increase in older Percent older

Older population since persons of total

 
 

 

Year population preceding census population

1870 12,060 1.5 1
1880 27,709 15,649 1.7

f 1890 47,229 19,520 2.1

 1900 74,037 26,808 2.4

 ' 1910 110,801 36,764 2.8
1920 163,046 52,245 3.5
1930 232,459 69,413 4.0
1940 347,495 115,036 5.4
1950 513,420 165,925 6.7
1960 745,391 231,971 7.8
1970 992,059 246,668 8.9
Estfmated,
1974 1,107,000 115,000 9.2
Projected,
1980 1 ,230,000 238,000 9.6

Source: U. S. Bureau ofQthe Census, U. S. Census of Population:
(1970, “General Population Characteristics,” PC(1)-B45, Texas,
Table 21, and U. S. Census of Population: 1940, Second Series
“Characteristics of the Population," Texas, Table 8. Estimates and
projections based on U. S. Bureau of the Census, CurrentPopulation
Reports, Series P-23, No. 43, February, 1973, “Some Demographic

4 l Aspects of Aging in the United States" and Series P-25, No. 518,

June, 1974, “Estimates of the Population of States, by Age, July 1,
1973.”

That the older population is growing at a faster rate
than the remainder of the State’s people is illustrated by
the fact that they make up a progressively larger share of
the totalnumbers. In 1870, persons 65 years of age and
over made up only 1 out of every 68 Texans. By 1970,
they comprised 1 out of every 11, and by 1980 almost 1
out of every 10 Texans will be 65 years of age or older.
While the State’s total population increased by 16.9 per-
cent between 1960 and 1970, the number of older per-
sons increased by 33.1 percent, thus growing at almost
twice as fast a rate as the total number of residents during

the decade.

Older Persons in Texas and the Nation

The 992,000 older persons in Texas were exceeded
numerically in only five other states in 1970. These were
New York, California, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Ohio, in
that order.) Florida ranks in the seventh position, with
Texas having about 2,700 more older person's than that
state. There were more older persons in 1970 in Texas
alone than the combined number of older people residing
in 15 other less populated states.

Older persons make up a lower proportionate share

of the total Texas population, however, than do older 

people in the nation as a whole and in three of the four
major geographic regions of the United States, Table 2.

Persons 65 years of age and older comprise 8. 9 percent of
the total population of the State, as well as of the Western
region of our nation.

TABLE 2. NUMBER AND PERCENT OF OLDER PERSONS IN
TEXAS, THE UNITED STATES AND MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC
REGIONS, 1970

Percent older

Total Older persons of total
Area population population population
United States 203,211,296 20,065,502   9.9
Northeast 49,040,703 5,199,384 10.6
North Central ' 56,571,663 5,727,424 10.1
South 62,795,367 6,042,633 9.6
West 34,804,193 3,096,061 8.9
TEXAS 1 1 ,196,73O 992,059 8.9

Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census, U. S. Census of Population:
1970, “General Population Characteristics,” PC(1)-B1, United
States Summary, Tables 52, 57 and 62.

While the older population makes up about 1 out of
every 11 persons in Texas, some neighboring states have
higher proportions — approximately 1 out of 8 (12.4
percent) in Arkansas and in Oklahoma (11.7 percent).
Texas ranks 37th among the 50 states in percentage of
older persons. Florida has the highest proportion, 1 out
of 7 (14.6 percent), followed by Iowa, Nebraska and
Arkansas, all with 12.4 percent. With the exception of
Florida, the list of states with relatively large proportions
of older persons (that is, more than 11.5 percent) is
comprised principally of those which have experienced
heavy out-migration. In these areas young people typi-

7

cally have been leaving in large numbers while the el-
derly have remained behind. This combination of cir-
cumstancesnormally results in an age distribution heav-
ily weighted toward older persons. F lorida's high propor-
tion of the elderly 1s largely the result of the migration of
persons to that state to retire. For example, Florida is
estimated to have had a net in-migration of 366,000 per-
sons (55 years of age and over in 1960) during the
1960-1970 decade.

Alaska has the lowest proportion of older persons;
they make up only 1 out of every 43 persons (2. 3 percent)
there. Alaska’s low proportion is the result of a large
in-migration of younger people to a new developing area
and some out-migration of older persons. The major
reason Texas is well below the national average in propor-
tion of older persons to total population is the combina-
tion of less out-migration as a whole and a large in-
migration of persons in the younger age levels.

The number of older people is increasing at a faster
rate in Texas than in the United States as a whole, giving
the State an increasingly larger share of the nation’s older
people. For example, only I out of every 42 (2.4 percent)
of the nation's older persons lived in Texas in 1900 com-
pared with 1 out of 20 (4.9 percent) in 1970.

Older Population in Relation
to Other Age Groups

By dividing all of the State’s residents into succes-
sive five-year age groups, comparisons can be made
which reveal how rapidly the older population is increas-
ing in relation to persons at other age levels. Those aged
65 and over increased more than twice as fast (33.1 per-
cent) as the remainder of the population as a whole (16.0
percent) between 1960 and 1970. They also increased
more rapidly than most of the other age levels, with the
exception of those between 15 and 24 and those 60-64
years of age. The major reason for the rapid growth of
persons 15 to 24 years of age is the big increase in the
number of births between 1936 and 1945 (when those
who were aged 15-24 in 1960 were born) and between
1946 and 1955 (when those who were aged 15-24 in 1970
were born). On the other hand, the increase in persons 60
to 64 years of age is largely attributed to greater numbers
of immigrants between 1906 and 1910 than between 1896
to 1900 and to longer life expectancies.

The net effect ot older persons more rapid increase
in numbers than the rest of the State’s population as a
whole is an increase in the median age level. The median
age of a population indicates the degree to which any
area’s people collectively are growing older or younger.

The median age of Texas’ residents has increased by’

almost 8 years between 1900 and 1970, from 18. 7 to 26.4.
If fertility rates continue to remain low during the re-
mainder of the 1970’s, the median age of Texas residents
will increase substantially by 1980.

Older Persons Compared
to the Young

Persons in the younger and older age groups —
under 18 years of age and those 65 and over — are usually

8

 

viewed as comprising the economically dependent popu- I

lation of any area. At the same time, each of these two
groups plays different roles in society and in the existence
of different kinds of problems. Therefore, a comparison of
their respective growth patterns is useful for planning
purposes. This can be accomplished by the construction
of an index commonly known aslthe index 0f aging. It is
obtained by computing the number of older persons (65
and over) per 100 young (under 18).

The number of older persons has been increasing at
a more rapid rate than Texas’ young population, Figure 2.
In 1900 there were only 3 older individuals perg. 100
youngsters, but by 1970 there were 25 older persorfs per
100 of those under 18 years of age. Thus, older persons
make up asignificantly larger share of the dependent
population than they did around the turn of the century.
Furthermore, if the current low fertility levels are main-
tained while life expectancies continue to increase, older
persons will undoubtedly make up a significantly larger
share of the State’s dependent population in the im-
mediate future.

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION

Although Texas had almost one million older people
in 1970, they are, like the remainder of the population,
very unequally distributed within the State, Figure 3.
Information on the number residing in each county ap-
pears in Appendix Table 1. They tend to be most impor-

a tant numerically in the most populous areas.

In 1970, seven counties had more than 20,000 older
persons. Harris County had the largest number, more
than 102,000 older citizens. Three others had more than
50,000 — Dallas (88,000), Bexar (62,000) and Tarrant

7 (52,000); and three had more than 20,000 — Jefferson

25 —+ 24.8

20—

Older Persons Per 100 Young

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970
Year

Figure 2. Number of older persons (65 and over) per 100 young (under
18) in the Texas population, 1900-1970.

         

   

O

  

(21,105), Travis (20,662) and El Paso (20,636). At the
other extreme were five counties with fewer than 100
older persons. These were Loving, with 14 older citizens;
King, with 24; Kenedy, with 53; Borden, with 63; and
Glasscock, with 92.

In general, older persons made up a smaller share of
the total population in West and South Texas than in the
eastern portion of the State, Figure 4. There were three
Texas counties in 1970 in which older persons made up
one out of every four residents. These were Hamilton
(26.5 percent), Mills (25.5) and Llano (24.9 percent). An
additional 31 counties had more than one out of every five

persons who were 65 years of age or older, and in another

28 they made up at least 18 percent of the total popula-
tion. All of these are counties with basically rural popula-
tions from which young people have migrated in large
numbers, leaving behind persons in older age groups.

They also tend to be located fairly near the geographic
center of the State; At the same time, there were two
coufnties in which older persons represented as little as
1 out of every 21 residents. These were Ector and Randall
counties (4.7 and 4.6 percent, respectively). They also
made up fewer than 1 out of every 17 people in 15 other
counties. Most of the areas with small proportions of
older persons are located in the High Plains section and
have had oil, gas or irrigation developments in recent
years which attracted mostly younger people.

Most of the counties with comparatively large num-
bers of older persons had, during the last decade, large
increases of persons 65 years of age or older. Harris
County, for example, increased its number of older resi-

' 4

0 ..'

Q9 a v9.0‘. 

0'0.0.4:0'o 0 0.0 O 0 0
Q

0
f.¢.0 .Q.O.Q .
-

   
 
 
 
   

  

BER PERSONS 65 8| OVER

[IE under L000
l,000- 4,999
w 5,000 - 9,999
|0,000- l9,999
- 20,000 8r over

Figure 3. Number ofolder persons
in Texas counties, 1970.

dents by more than 35,000 between 1960 and 1970, while
Dallas County experienced an increase of more than
27,000. The number of older persons more than doubled
in Andrews County, while almost doubling in Llano,
Hartley and Ector counties, Figure 5. On the other hand,
Borden County had no change in number of older per-
sons between 1960 and 1970, and five counties experi-
enced decreases in older persons during the decade.
There were Foard, Kent, King, Kinney and Roberts
counties — all of which have relatively small total num-
bers of residents as well as of older persons.

ACE AND SEX COMPOSITION

One of the main reasons almost every public docu-
ment asks for an individuafs age and sex is that these
factors are relevant to most circumstances involving a
human being. In general, people of different ages and of
different sex have different interests and capabilities for
performing the many and diverse roles and activities in
society. It becomes important, therefore, to review the
changing age and sex composition of the older popula-
tion.

Age Composition

Not only is the number of persons reaching their
65th birthday increasing at a rapid rate, the fastest growth
is occurring among the very oldest persons. For example,
the number of centenarians in Texas jumped from 610 in

1960 to 5,043 in 1970. Furthermore, the rate of increase
gets higher with each advancement in age beyond 65.

9

     

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//4 Emil - .. ° w

O
O0
O
D

PERCENT PERSONS 65 8 OVER

II under 6.0

6.0 - 9.9

i |0.0—l3.9

|4.0—|7.9

- I8.0 8 over

Figure 4. Percent of older persons
in Texas counties, 1970.

Figure 5. Percent of increase in
older persons in Texas counties,

1960-1970.

  

0'00 0 0 0
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:1 under I0.0

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PERCENT INCREASE
 under l7.0
i |7.0- 26.9
27.0-36.9
_ 37.0 8 over

10

" " "'"i"'llf‘"> ""PTP'V§FQY"W?IF“PlMW"Y.WflWWTFY‘ ‘i " ‘F

Percent

TABLE 3. NUMBER AND INCREASE OF OLDER PERSONS IN TEXAS, BY AGE GROUPS, 1940, 1950, 1960 and 1970

Increase Increase
1960-70 1940-70
Age groups 1940 1950 1960 1970 Number Percent Number Percent
65 to 74 years 250,703 355,472 493,349 627,758 134,409 27.2 377,055 150.4
75 to 84 years 81,146 134,527 208,817 290,626 81,809 39.2 209,480 258.2
85 and older 15,646 23,421 43,225 73,675 30,450 70.4 58,029 370.9
Total older persons 347,495 513,420 745,391 992,059 246,668 33.1 644,564 185.5

Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census, U. S. Census of Population:
21.

The number of persons 65 to 74 increased by 27 percent
during the last decade, while those 75 to 84 increased by
39percent and those 85 years and older by 70 percent,
Table 3. The net result of these growth differentials is that
those in the most advanced ages are making up an in-
creasingly larger part of the older population. In 1940
persons 85 years of age and older comprised 1 out of
every 22 older persons, but by 1970 they made up 1 out
of every 14 older individuals, Figure 6. Thus, not only are
the numbers growing who reach retirement age, a larger
proportionate share will also live for long periods beyond
retirement age. Furthermore, there is every indication

~ that this trend will continue for some time into the future

and be accentuated as further advances are made in life
expectancies.

 

I00 ----------   .-:-t-:-:-:-.-t-t-.-.
.-.f?-.§..J-.‘-'.-, . , ' _ _ .4.-5._'-.=_-.; . . ' . ' . ' 5 l8 
1 1| 1 m - , s:zgz:zgz;z;z:sg=s:s
._4 . . s. > Ill
3 4 2 ‘ 28.0
80‘ 
12.1 I I
69.2 - - --
66.2
501 - 63.3
4o_
L?
1940  1950 1960 1970

85 And Older

[:1 M 111111 

Figure 6. Percentage distribution of older persons in Texas, by age
groups, 1940-1970.

 

1970, “General Population Characteristics,” PC(1)-B45, Texas, Table

Sex Composition

A large majority of olderlpersons in Texas are
women. In 1970 females outnumbered their male coun-
terparts at these age levels by 156,000, Table 4. Further-
more, the margin of female predominance in numbers
is increasing at a rapid rate. As late as 1940, there were
over 5,000 more men than women 65 years of age and
over, but by 1950 the situation had reversed, and women
outnumbered men by 25,000 in 1950. In 1960 they in-

creased their margin to 71,000. So rapid has been this 

change in the sex composition of older persons that the
margin by which women outnumber men more than
doubled during each of the last two decades. If women
over 65 at the present time feel that it is hard to find a
male companion of their age, projections offer little hope,
since indications are that the situation will become more
acute in the future. a

One way to illustrate the sex composition of a given
population is to compute a sex ratio, which is defined as
the number of males per 100 females in any given year.
These computations indicate that in 1920 there was a
sizable excess of males —— 121 per 100 females in the
States older population, Figure 7. The balance between
the two sexes approached equality in 1940, but still fa-
vored males slightly. By 1950, the balance in numbers
swung over in favor of women, there being only 91 males
per 100 females in these older age groups. i

TABLE 4. NUMBER OF OLDER MALES AND FEMALES IN
TEXAS, 1920-1970

Excess in numbers

Year Males Females Males Females
1920 89,268 73,778 15,490
1930 123,443 109,016 14,427
1940 176,468 171,027 5,441
1950 244,181 269,239 25,058
1960 337,089 408,302 71,213
1970 418,270 573,789 155,519

Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census, U. S. Census of Popula-
tion: 1970, “Characteristics of the Population,” PC(1)-B45,
Texas, Table 21.

Historically, in Texas as well as in the remainder of

the nation, there are more boys born than girls. For the

11

150-
125-1 121.0

100-

Males Per 100 Females
\l
U’!
l

25—*

  

    

‘1950’
33f

1920' 1.930“

Figure 7. Males per 100 females in the older population of Texas,
1920-1970.

10-year period from 1960 to 1970, for example, there
were 104.7 male per 100 female live births in the State.
Each generation starts out with an excess of boys. The
mortality rate for males, however, is higher at every age
level from the time that birth occurs, so that females
begin to catch up in numbers with each advancement in
age. g

In 1970, there were 103.6 boys per 100 girls under 5
years of age. The difference between male and female
numbers narrows as they advance in years so that by age
19, boys outnumber girls by a very slight margin. By age
20 there are more females, and they outnumber males by
an increasingly wider margin at each succeeding age level
through their remaining years. By the time they reach
the 65-to-74-year age group, there are only 79 males per
100 females, and their ratios decline to 66 per 100 females
at ages 75 to 84 and to only 54 per 100 females at ages 85
and over, Table 5. That the sex ratio lowers with ad-
vanced age is indicated by the fact that there were only
47.6 males per 100 females in the Texas population be-
tween the ages of 95 and 99 in 1970. The influence of
these differences is reflected in the rapidly increasing
number of widows in the State. The increasingly larger
margin of females at each progressively older age level is
further illustrated by the figures contained in Table 5.
For example, there were 66 males per 100 females in
1960 who were 85 and over, but the ratio was reduced to
only 54 per 100 females in this same age group by 1970.

RACIAL AND ETHNIC COMPOSITION

The racial and ethnic composition of the older popu-
lation is just as important in many ways as ‘the total
numbers of older persons in the State. Each racial group
has different birth-and death rates, educational and in-
come levels and different status-level occupations. The
degree to which persons comprising different racial ele-
ments differ in their social and economic characteristics
 the degree to which their numbers are unequal play
an integral part in such factors as the average incomes and
average educational levels of the older population of the
State. Although table headings in Bureau of Census pub-

12

lications clearly refer to people by race, closer inspection
of their contents reveals that populations are normally
divided by color. The two major classifications of people
distinguished by the Bureau of the Census, based on
color, are white and nonwhite. The major elements of the
nonwhite group are Blacks, North American Indians,

TABLE 5. NUMBER OF OLDER MALES AND FEMALES IN

TEXAS, BY AGE GROUPS, 1960 and "1970

Excess Males
M I of per 100
Age groups a es Females females femams
1960 *0
65 to 74 years 229,450 263,899 34,449 86.9
75 to 84 years 90,490 118,327 27,837 76.5
85 years and over 17,149 26,076 8,927 66.0
Total older persons 337,089 408,302 71,213 82.6
1970
65 to 74 years 277,285 350,473 73,188 79.1
75 to 84 years 115,125 175,501 60,376 65.6
85 years and over 25,860 47,815 21,955 54.1

Total older persons 418,270 573,789 155,519 72.9

Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census, U. S. Census of Population:
1960, “General Population Characteristics," PC(1)-45B, Texas.
Table 16 and U. S. Census of Population: 1970, “Characteristics

a of the Population,” PC (1)-45B, Texas, Table 20.

Japanese, Chinese and Filipinos. All persons of Spanish
language or Spanish surname who are definitely not of
Indian or Negro races are classified as white.

General Trend

Texas has always been peopled predominantly by
white persons. In 1970 they comprised 86.8 percent of
the State’s total numbers and 88.3 percent of all older
persons. Thus, nonwhites made up 13.2 percent of the

. State’s total population and 11.7 percent of the older

people, Table 6.

The number of older persons is increasing at a faster
rate among both whites and nonwhites than are the other

TABLE 6. NUMBER AND PERCENT OF WHITES AND NON-
WHITES IN THE OLDER POPULATION OF TEXAS, 1900-1970

Older whites Older nonwhites Totalolderpersons

Year Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
1900 58,923 79.6 15,114 20.4 74,037 100.0
1910 91,705 82.8 19,096 17.2 110,801 100.0
1920 140,673 86.3 22,373 13.7 163,046 100.0
1930 206,250 88.7 26,209 1 1 .3 232,459 100.0
1940 298,809 86.0 48,686 14.0 347,495 100.0
1950 448,537 87.4 64,883 12.6 513,420 100.0
1960 657,589 88.2 87,802 11.8 745,391 100.0
1970 876,052 99.3 116,007 11.7 992,059 100.0

Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census, U. S. Census of Popula-
tion: 1970, “General Population Characteristics,” PC(1)-B45,
Texas, Table 21.

wnv m“ .1 vwrzwrnrlgjwry  “rwjypy wmw l'z)i'll,"jy'(fll‘wllflflflvliwélw any?‘  W,

age groups. In 1900, they each comprised 2.4 percent of
their respective racial groups. By 1970, however, older
persons comprised 9.0 percent of the total white and 7.8
percent of the total nonwhite population residing in the
State. Considerable difference exists in the proportionate
shares that older persons make up of various ethnic
groups in Texas. For example, only 4.6 percent of all
persons of Spanish language or Spanish surname are 65
years of age or older, while they make up 8.1 percent of
the black population and only 3 percent of all other
nonwhites (comprised mainly of American Indian,
Chinese, Japanese and Filipino), Table 7.

TABLE 7. NUMBER AND PERCENT OF OLDER PERSONS IN
RACIAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS IN TEXAS, 1970

Percent older

Racial or Total Older persons of
ethnic group population persons tote“ popumion
Whites 9,749,569 876,052 9.0
Spanish language
or surname 2,059,671 94,916 4.6
All other whites 7,689,898 781,136 10.2
Nonwhites 1 ,479,602 1 16,007 7.8
Negro 1,396,605 113,521 8.1
All other nonwhites 82,997 2,486 3.0
Total population 11,196,730 992,059 8.9

Source: ‘U. S. Bureau of the Census, U. S. Census of Population:
1970, “General Population Characteristics,” PC(1)-B45, Table 21
and "General Social and Economic Characteristics," PC(1)-C45,
Table 48. I

The number of older nonwhites has been increasing
at a slower rate than that for whites in Texas. In 1900, one
of every five older Texans was anonwhite; in 1970 non-
whites made up approximately one out of every eight
older persons. Among the major factors involved in the
higher proportionate growth of white in relation to non-
white older persons is the difference in death rates of the
two racial groups. In 1970, only 2O white babies per 1,000
born in Texas died before reaching their first birthday.
Among nonwhites, however, 32 babies per 1,000 born
died during their first year of life. Furthermore, non-
whites in Texas have higher death rates than whites at all
other age levels throughout their lives.

In 1900 there were 390 older whites per 100 older
nonwhites in Texas, Figure 8. However, by 1970, white
older persons had outranged their nonwhite counterparts
t6 comprise a ratio of 755 whites per 100 nonwhites.

Geographic Distribution

Although there are large concentrations of both
white and nonwhite older persons, particularly in coun-
ties-with big metropolitan centers, older whites are more

equally distributed over the State than nonwhites. Older ,

nonwhite people, of whom about 95 percent are blacks
and the remainder all other nonwhites, tend to be highiy
concentrated in East Texas.

In 1970, Harris County had the largest number of
white persons aged 65 and over (83,000) and also had the

\

70o -

g soo—

i

C

O

E soo-

5

§ 40o-

a

G.

§

5 300-‘

2

s

2

° 2oo—
100-

1900 1910

Figure 8. Number of older whites per 100 older nonwhites in Texas,
1900-1970.

largest number of older blacks (19,000). Their numbers
increased in Harris County by 51 and 61 percent, respec-

tively, between 1960 and 1970. Second in numbers of

older persons in both groups is Dallas County, with
77,000 whites and 11,000 blacks 65 years of age and over.

While Loving County had the fewest older whites (14),

there were 35 counties with no blacks aged 65 and over,
and an additional 19 with fewer than 5 older blacks. All of
these counties are located west of Fort Worth, and sev-
eral are in South Texas.

Figures 9 and 10 show the percentage of older per-
sons in the white and black populations of Texas counties
in 1970. In four counties, older persons made up 25
percent of the white population. These are Hamilton,
Mills, Delta and Throckmorton counties. An additional
36 counties had white populations of which at least 20
percent were 65 years of age and over. At the other
extreme, older persons made up less than 5 percent of all
whites in two counties (Randall and Ector), and in an
additional 14 counties they made up less than 6i percent.
Older persons made up at least 1 out of 5 blacks in 21
Texas counties in 1970. Most of the counties with the
highest proportionate shares of older blacks also had
relatively small total numbers of blacks.

Age and Sex ,

Although whites greatly outnumber nonwhites at al
of the older age levels, they both have fairly similar age
distribution patterns, Table 8. Whites have a slightly
larger proportion of older persons between 65 and 84
years of age than nonwhites, while the situation is re-
versed at 85 years of age and older. The margin by which
women outnumber men increases among both racial
groups with each advancement in age, but nonwhites
have higher proportions of males than females at all of the
older age levels than whites.

RESIDENTIAL COMPOSITION

As with members of any other age group, the loca-
tion of residence of older persons continues to have an
important bearing upon many features of their lives. It

13

Figure 9. Percent of older persons
in the white population of Texas
counties, 1970.

influences their life-styles, including living accommoda-
tions, transportation forms and their availability and
health care. For the rural resident, agricultural occupa-
tions still exert a great deal of influence, a low density of
population persists and population aggregates are com-
paratively small. A higher degree of ethnic and cultural
homogeneity still characterizes the rural resident as
compared with the city dweller. Older city dwellers in
some ways are faced with different types of problems than
are older people in rural areas.

A number of terms are used by the Bureau of Census
in connection with designation of place of residence of
individuals. Among these are “urban” and “rural,” “size
of place” and “metropolitan” and “nonmetropolitan.”
These terms as applied throughout this publication coin-
cide with their definitions as formulated by the Bureau of
the Census.

w- 1x020.“

  

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The current census definition of urban population
includes all persons in incorporated and unincorporated
centers of 2,500 or more persons and the densely popu-
lated fringe around cities of 50,000 inhabitants or more.
The rural population is divided into rural farm and rural
nonfarm. The rural farm population includes persons
living in rural territory on places of 10 or more acres from
which sales of farm products they produced amounted to
$50 or more in 1969 or on places of less than 10 acres from
which the sale of farm products amounted to $250 or
more. The classification rural nonfarm population applies
to all other persons in rural territory, including those
living in communities of less than 2,500 and those living
in farm houses but not leasing or operating the farm land.

Two types of places are recognized by the Bureau of
the Census — incorporated and unincorporated. In des-
ignating a place as unincorporated, the Census Bureau

TABLE 8. NUMBER AND PERCENT OF MALES PER 100 FEMALES, BY AGE GROUPS, FOR OLDER WHITES AND NON-WHITES IN

TEXAS, 1970
Older whites Older nonwhites
Age Males per Males per
groups Number Percent 100 females Number Percent 100 females

65 to 74 years 552,109 63.0 78.5 75,649 65.2 83.8
75 to 84 years 259,682 29.7 64.0 30,944 26.7 80.6
85 and over 64,261 7.3 51.7 9,414 8.1 72.4
Total older persons 876,052 100.0 71.8 116,007 100.0 82.0

Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census, U. S. Census of Population: 1970, “General Population Characteristics," PC(1)-B45, Table 20.

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delineates a definite nucleus of residences with its boun-
daries drawn to include, if feasible, all the surrounding
closely settled area. At the other extreme, a Standard
Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA) requires a city (or
twin cities) of 50,000 or more persons. The SM SA is made
up of counties as units, and includes the contiguous ter-
ritory, both rural and urban, which is deemed to be
closely integrated with the central city or cities. In some
instances, only the one county in which the central city of
50,000 or more is located constitutes an SMSA, while in
others two or more counties are combined to form a
meaningful metropolitan area. For example, the Bryan-
College Station SMSA included only Brazos County in
1970, but, at the other extreme, the Dallas SMSA con-
sisted of a total of six counties — Collin, Dallas, Denton,
Ellis, Kaufman and Rockwall.

Rural and Urban Areas

 The rural areas of Texas have a much higher per-
centage of older persons than urban areas. Thehighest
proportion exists among rural farm residents where they
compromised one out of every seven in 1970, Table 9.

- The next highest proportion of older people to total popu-

lation is in rural nonfarm areas (1 out of 8), while they
make up only 1 out of every 12 in towns and cities which
are classified as urban. Thus, while 20 percent of all Texas
residents lived in rural areas of the State in 1970, these
same areas had 30 percent of the State’s older people,
Figure 11. These major differences are explained largely
by the high rate of out-migration of young people from
rural to urban areas.

     
  
 

IA IA~
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00,0
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C: under 6.0

6.0 — 9.9

Ill/ll,‘ '00-'33 Figure 10. Percent of older per-
i M-OTW-g sons in the black population of
- l8.0 8i over Texas counties, 1970.

In 1970 older persons made up larger proportions of
the total populations in all three areas — rural farm, rural
nonfarm and urban — over 1960, indicating the more
rapid rate of growth of aged persons than of other age
groups. While there was an actual decline of about 21,000

TABLE 9. PERCENT OF OLDER PERSONS lN TEXAS, BY
RESIDENCE, 1960 and 1970, AND PERCENT CHANGE 1960-

1970

Percent of older persons

Percent change,

Areas 1960 1970 1960-70
Urban 6.9 8.0 44.0
Rural 10.4 12.3 11.7
Rural nonfarm 10.2 11.9 29.1
Rural farm 11.0 14.5 -27.4
Total 7.8 8.9 33.1

Source: R. L. Skrabanek, B. E. Dickerson and W. K. Upham,
Characteristics of the Texas Aged, Texas Agricultural Experi-
ment Station-Texas Agricultural Extension Service Bulletin 1057,
October 1966 and U. S. Bureau of the Census, U. S. Census of
Population: 1970, “Detailed Characteristics," PC(1)-D45, Texas,
Table 138.

older persons residing in rural farm areas during the last
decade, they still comprised a larger share of all rural
farm residents in 1970 than in 1960. This again reflects
the rapid rate at which younger persons migrated from
rural farm areas during the last decade. 9

15

 

Farm Hm“
3.5% a 55%

 

Total Population Older Population

Figure 11. Total and older population residing in urban, rural nonfarm
and rural farm areas of Texas, 1970.

Size of Place

When places are considered in terms of their size in
1970, there is a definite gradation in the proportion that
older persons make up of the total populations in differ-
ent size communities. The largest percentage of older
people exists in small towns (15.2 percent), which are
rural places of 1,000 to 2,500 inhabitants. This is partly
because of a high rate of out-migration of young people
from small towns to bigger cities but also because many
older persons who previously lived on farms migrated to
the closest town. The next highest proportion is found in
urban places of 2,500 to 10,000 (12.7 percent), followed in
order by urban places of 10,000 or more (10.0 percent)
and by urbanized areas of the State, cities of 50,000
inhabitants or more and the surrounding closely settled
areas (7.0 percent). The central cities of urbanized areas
have a higher proportion of older persons (7.8 percent)
than their urban fringe sections (4.4 percent). These
statistics indicate that in the urban fringe young families
with children predominate in numbers.

Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Areas

Older persons are proportionately almost twice as
important in nonmetropolitan as in metropolitan areas of
Texas. They comprise 13.2 and 7.3 percent of all people
in their respective areas. Thus, while metropolitan areas
as a whole have 74 percent of the State’s people, they
have only 61 percent of the older persons. Conversely,
nonmetropolitan areas have 26 percent of all persons, but
39 percent of Texas’ aged population.

The proportions that the elderly comprise of the
total populations of individual Standard Metropolitan
Statistical Areas of Texas have been computed and ap-
pear‘ in Table 10. These range in proportion from a high of
13.2 percent in the Sherman-Denison SMSA to a low of
only 4.7 percent in the Odessa SMSA. The relatively
small number of older persons in the Odessa SMSA is
explained by the fact that oil and gas developments which
have expanded in more recent years have attracted large
numbers of young people.

Sex and Race

Because of longer life expectancies, females out-
number males in all residence categories except in rural

l6

farm areas. Since women tend to migrate from farms.
when they become widowed while widowers are more
likely to remain on farms, there are only 88 females per
100 males in the older population of rural farm areas. On

TABLE 10. TOTAL AND OLDER POPULATION lN STANDARD
METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREAS OF TEXAS, 1970

Standard
MGIFODONIQH Percent older
Statistical Total Older persons of
Area population population total population

Abilene 113,959 12,027 10.66
Amarillo 144,396 11,520 8.0
Austin 295,516 20,662 7.0
Beaumont-Port

Arthur-Orange 315,943 25,263 8.0
Brownsville-

Harlingen 140,368 11,983 8.5
San Benito
Bryan-College

Station 57,978 4,452 7.7
Corpus Christi 284,832 18,327 6.4
Dallas 1,555,950 112,542 7.2
El Paso 359,291 20,636 5.7
Fort Worth 762,086 57,978 7.6
Galveston-Texas .

City 169,812 12,962 7.6
Houston 1,985,031 119,933 6.0
Laredo 72,859 5,799 8.0
Lubbock 179,295   11,322 6.3
McAllen-Pharr-

Edinburg 181,535 14,193 7.8
Midland 65,433 3,404 5.2
Odessa 91,805 4,349 4.7
San Angelo 71,047 7,601 10.7
San Antonio 864,014 66,447 7.7
Sherman-Denison 83,225 10,997 13.2
Texarkana 101,198 11,811 11.7
Tyler 97,096 10,801 11.1
Waco ‘ 147,553 18,237 12.4
Wichita Falls 127,621 12,641 9.9
Total 8,267,843 605,887 7.3

Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census, U. S. Census of Population:
1970, “General Population Characteristics,” PC(1)-B45, Texas,

Table 24.

the other hand, females 65 years of age and over out-

number males at these same levels by a margin of 149 to
100 in urban areas of the State and by 119 to 100 in rural

nonfarm areas.

Older whites are approximately 7.5 times more

numerous than older nonwhites in Texas as a whole. The
elderly whites outnumber elderly nonwhites by the
largest margins in urban fringes of urbanized areas (1,976
whites per 100 nonwhites) and in rural farm areas (1,576
per 100). Their predominance is smallest in SMSA’s (735

per 100).

SELECTED SOClO-ECONOMIC

Older people have always been a part of the Ameri-

CHARACTERISTICS

can society. However, it was not until they more than

doubled in absolute numbers in the 20 years between
1940 and 1960 "and until their proportion of the total pop-
ulation increased steadily that they began to attract wide-
spread attention. Public awareness of the growing im-
portance of older citizens has led to elaborate research
programs in problem areas associated with aging, and
considerable publicity is being given to these problems.
Among those frequently cited are inadequate incomes,
unsuitable housing and living arrangements, unemploy-
ability, disabilities and handicaps, and a changing role
from that of the respected elder of the past to one in
modern society which places more value on the young,
active and dynamic. Many of these factors, however, are
difficult to’ quantify. This section, therefore, includes
only those socio-economic characteristics for which the
U.S. Bureau of the Census has collected and published
information.

Marital Status

Information on the marital status of persons in the
United States is limited to the population 14 years of age
and older and is divided into four categories, single,
married, widowed and divorced.

In an American society which strongly believes in
the institution of marriage, a very small proportion of

' adults live without marrying at least once. For example,

in 1970 only 5 percent of all Texans who were between 65
and 70 had never married. Furthermore, 18.6 percent of
all older males and 11.7 percent of all older females had
married at least twice. In general the marital status of
persons depends largely upon their age, and the propor-
tions of single, married and widowed are determined to a
large extent by the age distributions of the populations
being compared.

Approximately 1 percent of all Texas males and
2. 6 percent of all Texas females who were 15 years of age
in 1970 were married. At marriage, the bride is on the
average 3 to 4 years younger than the groom. Differences
in marriage rates of males and females, in their age at
marriage and in their life expectancies, result in some
major differences in the marital status of the two sexes. In
Texas, by the time women are 20 years of age, wives
outnumber single women; husbands exceed single males
at 22. Females reach their maximum proportions married
(87.0 percent) between ages 35 and 39, but males reach
their maximum proportions married (89.8 percent) be-
tween ages 45 and 49. There are more widowed than
single females between the ages of 40 and 44, but this
point is not reached among males until they are between
50 and 54. By the time women are 70, widows outnumber
married women, but widowers do not outnumber mar-
ried men until they have passed their 85th birthday.

A comparison of the older population with young
people considered eligible to marry (I4 to 64 years of age)
clearly shows that larger proportions of young people are
both married and single, while a much larger proportion
of the elderly are widowed, Figure 12.

Although the proportions of single and divorced per-
sons remain fairly constant at all age levels throughout
adult life, changes in the numbers of those married and
widowed shift rapidly among older persons as they ad-
vance in years, Figure 13. The married proportion falls
sharply and the widowed proportion rises steeply with
increasing age. From 47 percent at ages 65 to 74, the
proportion of married women declines to 9 percent at age
85 and over. At the same time, the proportion of widowed
women increases from 43 percent before their 75th
birthday to 82 percent after they are aged 85. While four

   

   

 

 

100 I Marital Status Figure 12. Marital status of the
_ population of Texas by age groups,
90 _ [[11111] Single 1970.
I  "~ .' A" Married
80~i  ‘ 77 9 Divorced
' L.‘  I \:,
69 4 -. ‘$53, f}; '_"i_' - Widowed
79- __ .   Ii‘;
 ~ '2' K20 I 
E 60 - _§".~.';  151'. 
q; l.’ ‘ 1' j: >\,' T:.'_-_
2  _-'*_;~. i; y; 52 q
g so-  l  ‘" “'51”- :_§.'
.7 11': --' " :
 Z a. 3.-"1 '..
4° T  f?"  l
Ilnil ‘:5. ‘u.
30-i   '1.
20-  
if-i :‘-'
10-4 -'~:'-. p, ' ~
511-41‘; 5-2 :27." - . "
-'-'_  4.1 '  '
m 004;‘ $3:   >232: a: ‘ .
35-44 45-54 55-64 65and over
Age Groups

I7

     

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

100 _( Marital Status
G Single
9O -— I Married
- Divorced 81_._5
8o 3 i‘; [m] Widowed 1
70 A  _8. 2
a: 6°‘  
8 .91.}  .'._._.__
a 2:22;; z;2;=,=; 292:2; 5,9,8 l
“ 5°4 ‘E5325? £25252; $353555 1 ;
i 221;: i???   12.5 “ 
“>-  @222   7 1
30 “ :-:-:-t :;.;.;j ~:-:-:- - :-.;:-:- :-:-:-
j:§:§:f 5:13;‘ 531E151? E:§.-" 31:3;
1§1§1§| 31.351 E-Z-E-E-i 22-4 §§§:1:§:'f 5515157
2° ~  52222525    1
.I=‘=i isigizl 2525525 5552525
1o _ 2222i 2122i 25252521  f . ‘
5-4 §;§;§:‘ :§:;: ~ 5.6 :;:;:_1:4 5_-_‘_*‘§:§:1: 3 5-7-
"'3'3 Z1313 ' 1515i ' 5515-: I
 ""1 " b"?   Figure 13. Marital status of -
Total 65-74 75-84 85 And Over Total 65-74 75-84 85 And Over the Older population Of

AGE- OLDER MALES

out of five males are married at ages 65 t0 74, the propor-
tion of those married falls to less than one-half at age 85.
From only 10 percent before their 75th birthday, the
proportion of widowed men increases to 42 percent for
males 85 years old and older. Only one out of six older
men are widowed, but well over half of the women are in
this category. Several factors explain the higher propor-
tion of widows among elderly women, including higher
rates of mortality among men, intensified by the fact that
husbands are typically older than their wives by several
years, and the higher remarriage rates of widowers, who
may take wives from among single, divorced or widowed
women or women under age 65.

Living Arrangements

Retirement from family duties and from an occupa-
tion creates problems with living arrangements for many
older persons. As their children leave home, less space is
needed, and reduced income sometimes makes it essen-
tial to seek less expensive housing. Most older persons
prefer to live in their own homes even when the house is
too large for them and the neighborhood has undergone
radical changes. Unless the death of a spouse, economic
reverses or physical reverses force them to accept other
living arrangements, they do not willingly change their
domestic status. I

While on one hand, a more ready acceptance of
group homes for the elderly is developing, many still look
upon homes for the aged as an admission of defeat and
withdrawal or as a rejection from the community, relin-
quishment of total assets and a vegetative existence.
However, improvements in these homes are changing
attitudes toward this type of living arrangement. Particu-
larly since the middle 1960’s, homes for the aged are no
longer being established in isolated locations; excellent
medical, rehabilitational and food services are being of-
fered; and programs have been developed for purposeful
activity and maintenance of community contacts. The

18

f" XéEJmbER FEMALES

Texas, by age and sex, 1970.

number of older persons living in facilities planned for
this particular age group has increased materially in re-
cent years, and undoubtedly more older people will con.-
tinue to choose this type of living arrangement in the
future.

Despite this wider acceptance, most- older persons
still want to continue as families and do not voluntarily
change their living arrangement just because of age. In
Texas, a majority are able to follow this choice, with living
arrangements of older men differing sharply from those of
older women. Three out of every four males 65 years of
age and older were classified as heads of their families in

1970, and one-third of the older females were the wives of

males who were heads of families. An additional 9.3
percent of all women aged 65 and over were heads of
families.

There has been an increase duringthe last decade in
the proportion of older men and women who are clas-
sified as “primary ” individuals (a household head living
alone or with non-relatives only). In 1970, a much larger
share of older women (35. 3 percent) either lived alone or
with non-relatives than older men (13.5 percent).

Contrary to the popular view, only a small propor-
tion of Texas’ older population (5. 6 percent) live in group
quarters, the category which includes all living arrange-
ments other than in households. In 1970, 4.1 percent of
all males and 6.7 percent of all females of the ages of 65
and over resided in group quarters.

Of the total of 55,765 persons in group quarters in
1970, 46,872 (84 percent) lived in homes for the aged.
This number is growing very rapidly, having quadrupled
during the last decade alone. There were only 11,558
older persons in homes for the elderly in 1960. Fewer
than 1 out of every 20 older persons in Texas (4.7
percent) resided in homes for the aged in 1970, Figure
14. Rates of elderly group home residents are at a
minimum for both men and women 65 to 69 years of age
and then rise steadily with increasing age, Table 11.

TABLE 11. OLDER PERSONS LIVING IN HOMES FOR THE AGED IN TEXAS, BY AGE, 1970

Older persons

Total Males Females
Females per
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent 100 males
65 to 69 3,928 8.4 1,612 12.0 2,316 6.9 140
70 to 74 5,997 12.8 2,034 15.1 3,963 11.9 190
75 to 79 9,723 20.8 2,711 20.2 7,012 21.0 260
80 to 84 12,628 26.9 3,345 24.9 9,283 27.7 280
85 and over 14,596 31.1 3,743 27.8 10,853 32.5 290
Total 46,872 100.0 13,445 100.0 33,427 100.0 250

Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census, Census of Population: 1970, “Detailed Characteristics,” PC(1)-D45, Texas, Table 154.

There were 250 older women per 100 older men living in
homes for the aged in 1970, and their margin of domi-
nance in numbers increases progressively with age. For
example, among those 85 years old and older there were
290 women per 100 men in homes for the aged. Females
comprised 6O percent of all persons 65 to 69 years of age
in homes for the aged in 1970, and they made up 74
percent among those aged 85 and over.

Employment Status

There is much evidence that a large number of per-
sons would like to continue employment past age 65.
Self-employed business and professional workers and
especially farmers like to continue as long as possible.
Many wage earners resist retirement as long as their good

health continues, and many would like to work longer. ~

Women who worked while their children were growing
up tend to keep working, and increasing numbers who
did not work seek jobs in their newly freed time. How-
ever, a combination of circumstances is causing increas-
ingly larger numbers of qualified workers to drop out of
the labor force at younger ages than in past years.

During World War II, the employment of older
workers was at its peak since there was an acute shortage
of workers in a number of occupations. Never before,
however, has the nation had so many young individuals

. annually entering the labor force as in the 1970’s. For

example, in 1970 Texas had 1,093,000 persons 15 to 19

years old who were ready to enter the labor market in the ..

years from 1971 through 1975. At the same time there
were only 510,000 persons 55 to 59 years old who reached
the prescribed retirement age during the same period.

Thus, there should be approximately 2.14 young people
ready to enter the Texas labor force for every 1 person
retiring, thereby creating pressures on persons to retire
before they reach their 65th birthday. At the same time,

new sources of productive energy and new types of
machinery have displaced many jobs through automation
and technological advances. The reluctance of employers
to hire people after they have passed middle age is based
on a variety of beliefs, many of which are unproven.

Among these is that older people are less productive than
young people; that they are harder to get along with; that
they have higher rates of absenteeism due to more illness

Figure 14. Percent of older persons in homes for 25
the aged in Texas, by age, 1970.

'73. . p‘;
Percent

Total 65 69 70-74 75479 80434 8581mm
TOTAL OLDER PERSONS

Total 65-69 0-

OLDER FEMA

Total 65~69 70-74 75-79 80-84 85mm:
OLDER MALES

19

and age-connected reasons; that their job accident rates
are higher; that there is more labor turnover among older
workers; and, particularly in retail establishments, that
customers prefer to deal with young people, especially
younger, as opposed to older, women.

Retirement should not be determined by age alone,
and ability and desire to work should be taken into ac-
count. But with increasingly larger numbers of well-
trained young people attempting to enter the labor mar-
ket annually and with the need to advance younger work-
ers, a sharp increase in both voluntary and compulsory
retirements has taken place in recent years. Conse-
quently there has been a decided downward trend in the
employment of older people in Texas as well as in the
nation, particularly since 1950. The proportion of older
males in the labor force dropped from 41.5 percent in
1950 to 34. 6 percent in 1960 and to 29. 6 percent in 1970.
While there is growing recognition of the current waste of
skills and experience and of the individual problems and
frustrations brought on by retirement at a fixed age, both
voluntary and forced retirements are occurring at
younger ages and at a faster rate than ever before.

Older workers in Texas constituted only 4. 2 percent
of the State’s total labor force in 1970, while older persons
made up 8.9 percent of the total population. In general,
higher proportions of older males (29.6 percent) are in
the labor force than females (10.8 percent), and smaller
proportions of both sexes are in the labor force as they
advance in age, Figure 15.

All persons in the labor force belong in one of two
categories: the Armed forces or the civilian labor force.
Among the older population, of course, few are in the
Armed Forces. Unemployment rates (technically, an
unemployed person is defined as one who is not at work
but is actively looking for work) are about the same for
older persons as they are for younger people in the labor

" force. However, such statistics may be misleading; more

qnn

older people might be discouraged in being unable to
find employment and might drop out of the labor force
altogether, thus being removed from the list of unem-
ployed persons.

The occupation of unemployed younger and older
persons are shown in five broad categories in Table 12.
Among older employed males, over one-third are in pro-
fessional and managerial occupations, and one-fourth are
in unskilled jobs (mostly laborers and service workers).
Among solder employed women, 35 percent are in un-
skilled jobs (laborers, service workers and especially
private household workers), and 3 out of 10 are in white
collar occupations (especially clerical and sales workeis).

Income Status
Having sufficent income for shelter, food, clothing,
increased medical needs and active living is regarded as
one of the most pressing needs of older people. Consid-

erable progress has been made, particularly in the last I

couple of decades, in providing basic income to older
persons. Other than money received from employment,
some older people obtain income from private retire-
ment, social security and old age pension payments.
Despite the progress being made, income continues to
be a problem for many.

In 1969 the median income of families where the
head of household was an older married male with wife
present was $4, 153. This was less than half the income of
all Texas families where the head of household was a male
with wife present. The amount of family income received
lessens progressively as the age of the head of the house-
hold increases, Figure 16. In 1969, in situations where
husband and wife were living together and where the
head of household was an older person, about 17 percent

of the families had money incomes of less than $2,000, .

and an additional 16 percent received under $3,000.
Almost 9 percent had incomes of $15,000 or more during
the year.

Figure 15. Percent of_older persons in the labor '""
force in Texas, by age, 1970.

90'
80-
70-

60-

Percent

 

Males
O O
' ' Females

AGES

20

TABLE 12. OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF EMPLOYED YOUNGER AND OLDER PERSONS IN TEXAS, BY SEX, 1970

Employed males

Employed females

14-64 years of age

Older population

14-64 years of age Older population

Occupation Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
Professional and  

managerial 695,806 27.6 42,419 35.3 294,915 19.9 14,928 24.9
White collar 374,072 14.8 18,904 15.8 642,730 43.4 17,976 30.0
Skilled 546,366 21.7 17,762 14.8 26,696 1.8 1,474 2.5
Semiskilled 471,087 18.7 11,426 9.5 144,704 9.8 4,579 7.6
Unskilled 431,647 17.1 29,572 24.6 372,995 25.1 21,006 35.0
Total 2,518,978 100.0 20,083 100.0 1,482,040 100.0 59,963 100.0

Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census, Census of Population: 1970, “Detailed Characteristics," PC(1)-D45, Texas. Table 174.

The median income of families with male heads 65
and over increased considerably (about 70 percent) in the
1959-69 decade in current dollars but grew much less
rapidly in constant dollars.

The median income of older unrelated individuals

(those not living with any relatives) nearly doubled in the
1959-69 decade, but the figure is still quite low — $1,635

in 1969. Unrelated individuals aged 65' and over have a.

median income only about two-fifths as great as families
headed by older persons. The median income of older
female unrelated individuals in 1969 was $1,599, which is

slightly below the $1,761 level achieved by older male
unrelated individuals.

$11,000

10,000-

9,000-

8,000-

7,000 ~

6,000-

Modian Income

? ~00"-
3,000-l

2,000 '

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Q - - Q - .-

Total I 35-44 O O 456-64‘ s5 And Ovor

Ago of Household Hood

Figure 16. Median income of Texas families headed by married male
with wife present, by age of family head, 1969.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are indebted to A. B. Wooten, Direc-
tor, and W. G. Adkins, head of the Research Division,
Texas Real Estate Research Center, for providing funds
for the employment of Sandra Klein, undergraduate
Sociology student, Texas A&M University, who did most
of the computational and cartographic work contained in

this publication. They are also indebted to Jeanette”

Tryner for her contributions in the development of vari-
ous phases of the manuscript.

The authors also appreciate the assistance of Vivian
H. Blair, Family Life Specialist — Aging, Texas Agricul-
tural Extension Service, in supplying information of a
historical nature on agencies and programs whose central
concern is the older population. The assistance of the
Texas A&M University Library in acquiring magnetic
summary tapes of the 1970 census and a standard set of
computer programs from DUALabs is very much ap-
preciated.

This publication is largely a revision of Texas Ag-
ricultural Experiment Station — Texas Agricultural Ex-
tension Service Bulletin 1057, Characteristics 0f the
Texas Aged (October, 1966) by R. L. Skrabanek, B. E.
Dickerson and W. K. Upham.

21

“a Y} u “Hort-h w" ~

APPENDIX TABLE 1. THE OLDER POPULATION OF TEXAS, BY COUNTIES, 1960 and 1970

Percent older A

Older Net change, persons of
l population _ 1960-70 total population,
County 1970 1960 . Number Percent 1970
Anderson 4,750 ' 4,002 748 18.7 17.1
Andrews 588 267 321 120.2 A 5.7
Angelina 5,189 3,731 1,458 39.1 10.5
Aransas 1,214 659 555 84.2 13.6
Archer 834 600 234 39.0 14.5
Armstrong 334 280 54 19.3 17.6
Atascosa 2,189 1 ,683 506 30.1 1 1 .7
Austin 2,721 2,223 498 22.4 19.7
Bailey 750 498 252 50.6 8.8
Bandera 859 618 241 39.0 18.1
Bastrop 3,026 2,650 376 14.2 17.5
Baylor 1 ,051 842 209 24.8 20.1
Bee 1,855 1,445 410 28.4 8.2
Bell 8,735 6,990 1,745 25.0 7.2
Bexar 62,416 46,898 15,518 33.1 7.5
Blanco 707 600 107 17.8 19.8
Borden 63 63 0 0 7.1
Bosque 2,613 2,176 437 20.1 23.8
Bowie 7,781 6,187 1,594 25.8 11.5
Brazoria 5,746 3,728 2,018 54.1 5.3
I" Brazos 4,452 3,202 1 ,250 39.0 7.7
Brewster 667 518 149 28.8 8.6
Briscoe 345 320 25 7.8 12.4
. Brooks 622 514 108 21.0 7.8
Brown 4,799 4,128 671 16.3 18.6
. Burleson 1,844 1,729 115 6.7 18.4
Burnet 2,410 1,372 1,038 75.7 g 21.1
Caldwell 2,777 2,234 543 24.3 13.1
Calhoun 993 669 324 48.4 5.6
Callahan 1,719 1,396 323 23.1 21.0 a
*1 l Cameron 11,983 8,093 3,890 48.1 8.5
Camp 1,280 1,089 . 191 17.5 16.0
Carson 754 512 242 47.3 1 1 .9
Cass 3,547 2,907 640 22.0 14.7
Castro 525 303 222 73.3 5.1
Chambers 924 714 . 210 29.4 7.6
Cherokee 5,294 4,439 855 19.3 16.5
Childress 1,373 1,146 227 19.8 21.8
Clay 1,387 3 1,235 152 12.3 17.2
Cochran 453 351 102 29.1 8.5
.9 Coke 497 421 76 18.1 16.1
i Coleman 2,445 2,153 292 13.6 23.8
Collin 6,393 5,435 958 17.6 9.6
Collingsworth 979 901 78 8.7 20.6
Colorado 2,619 2,225 394 17.7 14.9
Comal 3,012 1,999 1,013 50.7 12.5
Comanche 2,570 2,407 163 6.8 21.6
Concho 617 526 91 17.3 21.0
Cooke 3,036 2,640 396 15.0 12.9
Corryell 2,492 2,066 426 20.6 7.1
CBttle 549 478 71 14.9 17.1
Crane 263 154 109 70.8 6.3
Crockett 321 210 111 52.9 8.3
Crosby 1,026 840 186 22.1 11.3
Culberson 172 115 57 49.6 5.0
Dallam 687 665 22 3.3 11.4
Dallas 88,237 61,112 27,125 44.4 6.7
Dawson 1 ,767 1 ,363 404 29.7 10.7
Deaf Smith 1,205 757 448 59.2 6.3
Delta 1,153 1,136 17 1.5 23.4
Denton 5,970 4,598 1 ,372 29.8 7.9
DeWitt 3,542 2,888 654 22.6 19.0
Dickens 711 706 5 .7 19.0
Dimmit 813 638 175 27.4 9.0

23

APPENDIX TABLE 1.

THE OLDEFI POPULATION OF TEXAS, BY COUNTIES, 1960 and 1970 (Continued)

Percent older

Older Net change, persons of
population 1960-70 total population,
County 1970 1960 Number Percent 1970
Donley 785 737 48  6.5 21.6
Duval 1,177 935 242 g; 25.9 10.0
Eastland 4,288 3,668 620 16.9 23.7
Ector 4,349 2,202 2,147 97.5 4.7
Edwards 251 225 26 11.6 11.9
Ellis 6,188 5,451 737 13.5 13.3
El Paso 20,636 14,232 6,404 45.0 5.}
Erath 3,617 3,127 490 15.7 19.9
Falls 3,543 3,343 200 6.0 20.5
Fannin 4,651 4,274 377 8.8 20.5
Fayette 3,973 3,581 392 10.9 22.5
Fisher 1,083 924 159 17.2 17.1
Floyd 1,259 1,039 220 21.2 11.4
Foard 451 466 -15 -3. 2 20.4
Fort Bend 3,890 2,846 1,044 36.7 7.4
Franklin 1,063 869 194 22.3 22.1
Freestone 2,415 2,246 169 7.5 21.7
Frio 1,158 842 316 37.5 10.4
Gaines 761 512 249 48.6 6.6
Galveston 12,962 9,034 3,928 43.5 7.6
Garza 599 507 92 18.1 11.3
Gillespie 2,100 1,640 460 28.0 19.9
Glasscock 92 69 23 33.3 8.0
Goliad 763 661 102 15.4 15.7
Gonzales 2,792 2,480 312 12.6 17.1
Gray 2,951 1,924 1,027 53.4 11.0
Grayson 10,997 9,093 1,904 20.9 13.2
Gregg 7,826 5,367 2,459 45.8 10.3
Grimes 2,231 1,968 263 13.4 18.8
Guadalupe 4,031 2,842 1,189 41.8 12.0
Hale 3,226 2,681 545 20.3 9.5
Hall 1,121 994 127 12.8 18.6
Hamilton 1,908 1,748 160 9.2 26.5
Hansford 459 295 I 164 55.6 7.2
Hardeman 1,346 1,168 178 15.2 19.8
Hardin 2,884 2,095 789 37.7 9.6
Harris 102,341 66,732 35,609 53.4 5.9
Harrison 5,943 4,607 1,336 29.0 13.3
Hartley 322 163 159 97.5 11.6
Haskell 1,536. 1,366 170 12.4 18.0
Hays 2,227 1,886 341 18.1 8.1
Hemphlll 395 332 63 19.0 12.8
Henderson 3,984 3,094 890 28.8 15.1
Hidalgo 14,193 10,038 4,155 41.4 7.8
Hill 4,490 4,139 351 8.5 19.9
Hockley 1,604 1,200 404 33.7 7.9
Hood 1,131 885 246 27.8 17.8
Hopkins 3,468 2,998 470 15.7 16.8
Houston 2,976 2,620 356 13.6 16. 7
Howard 3,122 2,332 790 33.9 8.3
Hudspeth 196 133 63 47.4 8.2
Hunt 6,235 5,408 827 15.3 13.0
Hutchinson 2,097 1,213 884 72.9 8.6
lrion 188 144 44 30.6 17.6
Jack 1,253 1,039 214 20.6 18.7
Jackson 1,343 1,123 220 19.6 10.4
Jasper 3,061 2,335 726 31.1 12.4
Jeff Davis 198 160 38 23.8 13.0
Jefferson 21,105 14,964 6,141 41.0 8.6
Jim Hogg 477 315 162 51.4 10.2
Jim Wells 2,502 1,768 734 41.5 7.6
Johnson 5,830 4,548 1,282 28.2 12.7
Jones 2,885 2,421 464 19.2 17.9

24

APPENDIX TABLE 1.

THE OLDER POPULATION OF TEXAS, BY COUNTIES, 1960 and 1970 (Continued)

Percent older

Older Net change, persons of
population 1960-70 total population,

County 1970 1960 Number Percent 1970
Karnes . 1,730 1,393 337 24.2 12.9
Kaufman 4,878 4,273 605 14.2 15.1
Kendall 1,152 877 275 31.4 16.5
Kenedy 53 47 6 12.8 7-3
Kent 209 219 -10 -4.6 14-6
Kerr 4,629 3,232 1,397 43.2 23.8
Kimble 655 560 95 17g 16.8
King 24 26 -2 _7_7 5.2
Kinney 232 233 -1 -.4 11.6
Kleberg 1,929 1,344 585 43.5 5.8
Knox 1,131 964 167 17.3 18.9
Lamar 5,743 5,094 649 12.7 15.9
Lamb 2,713 1,632 541 33.1 12.2
Lampasas 1,554 1,341 213 15.9 16.8.
La Salle 527 524 3 t .6 10.5
Lavaca 3,656 3,140 516 16.4 20.4
Lee 1,563 1,373 190 13.8 19.4
Leon 1,751 1,642 109 6.6 20.0
Liberty 3,659 2,749 910 33.1 11.1
Limestone 3,633 3,225 408 12.7 20.1
Lipscomb 432 377 55 14.6 12.4
Live Oak 857 673 184 27.3 12.8
Llano 1,739 876 863 98.5 24.9
Loving 14 ~12 2 16.7 8.5
Lubbock 11,322 7,837 3,485 44.5 6.3
Lynn 984 830 154 18.6 10.8
McCulloch 1,742 1,442 300 20.8 20.3
McLennan 18,237 14,755 3,482 23.6 12.4
McMullen 146 119 27 22.7 13.3
Madison 1,281 1,084 197 18.2 16.7
Marion 1,389 1,045 344 32.9 16.3
Martin 433 353 80 22.7 9.1
Mason 716 670 46 6.9 21.3
Matagorda 2,876 2,176 700 32.2 10.3
Maverick 1,200 795 405 50.9 6.6
Medina 2,293 1,791 502 28.0 11.3
Menard 529 470 59 12.6 20.0
Midland 3,404 1,897 1,507 79.4 5.2
Milam 3,679 3,321 358 10.8 18.4
Mills 1,074 918 156 17.0 25.5
Mitchell 1,400 1,193 207 17.4 15.4
Montague 2,975 2,5.15 460 18.3 19.4
Montgomery 4,297 2,737 1,560 57.0 8.7
Moore 742 463 279 60.3 5.3
Morris 1,523 1,234 289 23.4 12.4
Motley 476 384 92 24.0 21 .9
Nacogdoches 4,287 3,420 867 25.4 11.8
Navarro 5,829 5,1543 686 13.3 18.7
Newton 1,449 1,142 307 26.9 12.4
Nolan 2,361 1,819 542 29.8 14.6
Nueces 14,966 10,244 4,722 46.1 6.3
Ochiltree 649 476 173 36.3 6.7
Oldham 166 138 28 20.3 7.4
Orange 4,158 2,703 1,455 53.8 5.8
Palo Pinto 2,857 2,621 236 9.0 9.9
Panola 2,443 1,938 505 26.1 15.4
Parker 3,708 3,049 659 21.6 10.9
Parmer 684 515 169 32.8 6.5
Pecos 809 548 261 47.6 5.9
Polk 2,259 1,744 515 29.5 15.6
Potter 9,017 6,700 2,317 34.6 10.0
Presidio 618 492 126 25.6 12.8
Rains 666 575 91 15.8 17.8

25

APPENDIX TABLE 1.

THE OLDER POPULATION OF TEXAS, BY COUNTIES, 1960 and 1970 (Continued)

Percent older

Older Net change, persons of
population 1960-70 total population,
County 1970 1960 Number Percent 1970
Randall 2,503 1,392 1,111  79.8 4.6
Reagan 184 158 26  16.5 5.7
Real 296 254 42 " 16.5 14.7
Red River 2,931 2,553 378 14.8 20.5
Reeves 989 712 277 38.9 6.0
Refugio 889 725 164 22.6 9.4
Roberts 110 122 -12 -9.8 11.4.
Robertson 2,648 2,312 336 14.5 18,4
Rockwall 876 787 89 1 1.3 12.4
Runnels 2,238 1,971 267 13.5 18.5
Rusk 5,790 4,129 1,661 40.2 17.0
Sabine 1,073 960 113 11.8 14.9
San Augustine 1,261 946 315 33.3 16.0
San Jacinto 1,087 930 157 16.9 16.2
San Patricio 3,361 2,442 919 37.6 7.1
San Saba 1,228 1,224 4 .3 22.2
Schleicher 325 260 65 25.0 14.3
Scurry 1,789 1,360 429 31.5 11.4
Shackelford 707 563 144 25.6 21.3
Shelby 3,329 2,927 402 13.7 16.9
Sherman 257 189 68 36.0 7.0
Smith 10,801 7,707 3,094 40.1 11.1
Somervell 583 506 77 15.2 20.9
Starr 1,416 972 444 45. 7 8.0
Stephens 1,646 1,387 259 18.7 19.6
Sterling 125 119 6 5.0 11.8
Stonewall 384 325 59 18.2 16.0
Sutton 345 260 85 32. 7 10.9
Swisher 1,032 786 246 31 .3 10.0
Tarrant 52,148 37,108 15,040 40.5 7.3
Taylor 9,142 6,591 2,551 38.7 9.3
Terrell 201 174 27 15.5 10.4
Terry 1,096 960 136 14.2 7.8
Th roc kmorton 536 464 72 15.5 24.3
Titus 2,505 2,001 504 25.2 15.0
Tom Green 7,601 5,749 1,852 32.2 10.7
Travis 20,662 16,073 4,589 28.6 7.0
Trinity 1,463 1,179 284 24.1 19.2
Tyler 2,025 1,400 625 44.6 16.3
Upshur 3,069 2,423 646 26.7 14.6
Upton 366 279 87 31.2 7.8
Uvalde 2,019 1,520 499 32.8 11.6
Val Verde 1,742 1,224 518 42.3 6.3
Van Zandt 3,907 2,926 981 33.5 17.6
Victoria 3,846 2,818 1,028 36.5 7.2
Walker 2,411 1,981 430 21.7 8.7
Waller 1,543 1,253 290 23.1 10.8
Ward 879 621 258 41 .6 6.8
Washington 3,466 3,043 423 13.9 18.4
Webb 5,799 4,188 1,611 38.5 8.0
Wharton 4,113 3,433 680 19.8 11.2
Wheeler 1,217 1,080 137 12.7 18.9
Wichita 11,807 9,016 2,791 31.0 9.7
Wilbarger 2,630 2,325 305 13.1 17.1
- Willacy 1,324 1,029 295 28.7 8.5
Williamson 5,909 4;674 1,235 26.4 115.8
Wilson 1,641 1,527 114 7.5 12.6
Winkler 614 395 219 55.4 6.4
Wise 2,857 2,333 524 22.5 14.5
Wood 3,504 2,641 863 32.7 18.9
Yoakum 392 232 160 69. 0 5.3
Young 2,872 2,084 788 37.8 18.7
Zapata 572 342 230 67.3 13.1
Zavala 838 713 125 17.5 7.4,

26

[Blank Page in Original Bulletin]

The Texas Agricultural Experiment Station
Texas A&M University

 

College Station, Texas 77843 PQSTAGE AND F555 PA")
u.s. DEPARTMENT OF
J. E. Miller, Director AGRICULTURE
Publication AGR 101

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The Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, ]. E. Miller, Director, College Station, Texas

5M——3-75

0e9O