The Center for Community Living (an office of the Administration on Aging, which is itself a part of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services) recently posted an interactive online map which allows you to compare states, examining a number of age-related statistics. Click the map below to go straight to their site and try it for yourself.
This map makes it easy to get an overview of the numerical size of the older-consumer market, because you can compare states’ overall populations with the share of population that is 60+ and 65+.
Not surprisingly, California is both the most populous state, and the state with the largest number of people over 60. But the size of the senior market really hits you when you realize that there are more people over 60 in California than there are people, period, in Arizona.
New York has more 60+ residents than the total population of either Oklahoma or Oregon. Illinois and Michigan have more 60+ residents than the combined populations of Utah and New Mexico.
Are you running a national marketing effort for a national brand? Because if you are, this is a question you should ask yourself: Which whole states are you willing to completely hand over to your competition? If your message doesn’t resonate with older consumers, you’re losing a big share of population and an even bigger share of wealth.