Idaho’s population showed significant growth in 2017, especially among older residents.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Gem State seniors – people age 65 and older – grew nearly 8 percent from mid-2016 to mid-2017, the highest percentage of all age groups. Overall the state experienced a significant population increase of nearly 37,000 or 2.2 percent across all age groups for the same time period.
While the 2017 data shows Idaho’s senior group represented 33 percent of the total change in population, all age groups experienced growth. The 19-and-younger age group and the 40- to 64-year-old groups grew by 1.5 percent each, while the 20- to 39-year-old age group grew 2.3 percent.
Idaho’s median age at 36 was lower than the nation’s at 38 as of mid-2017. Twenty-nine of Idaho’s counties had a median age above the state’s median. Adams County had the highest median age in the state at 55, while Clearwater, Idaho, Boise, Custer, and Lemhi counties had a median age older than 50. Madison County, home to BYU-Idaho, had the lowest median age in the state at 23, and Latah County, home to the University of Idaho, had the state’s second lowest median age at 29. (Idaho Department of Labor)
