Income of the Population 55 or Older, 2010

Demographic Characteristics

Demographic Characteristics of Aged Persons

Key Terms and Concepts for Section 1 1

Age. Age classification is based on the age of the person at his or her last birthday as of March 2011. A married couple's age is defined as the age of the husband—unless he is under age 55 and the wife is 55 or older, in which case it is the age of the wife.

Aged unit. With age 55 as the cutoff, aged units are defined as married couples living together—at least one of whom is 55 or older—and nonmarried persons 55 or older.

Marital status. Married persons are married and living with their spouse. Nonmarried persons may be divorced, widowed, never married, separated, or married but living apart from their spouse.

Race. The categories White alone, Black alone, and Asian alone reflect respondents who reported only one race. Because of changes to the race category, data on race are not directly comparable to editions prior to 2002. A person's race is his or her reported race. A married couple's race is defined as the race of the husband.

Hispanic origin. Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race. A married couple is of Hispanic origin if the husband is of Hispanic origin.

Family. A family is a group of two or more people (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together; all such people (including related subfamily members) are considered as members of one family.

Social Security beneficiary. A beneficiary may be receiving retired-worker benefits, dependents' or survivor benefits, disability benefits, or transitionally insured benefits.

Notes

 1 For more information, consult the Glossary for this report.

Tables

Demographic Characteristics of Aged Persons Table 1.1 Percentage with characteristic, by sex, race, Hispanic origin, Social Security beneficiary status, and age, 2010
Characteristic Aged 55–61 Aged 62–64 Aged 65 or older
Total 65–69 70–74 75–79 80 or older
  All persons
Sex
Men 48.6 48.2 43.6 46.0 45.8 43.2 39.1
Women 51.4 51.8 56.4 54.0 54.2 56.8 60.9
Race
White alone 83.0 84.3 86.2 84.7 85.4 87.0 88.0
Black alone 10.9 10.1 8.7 9.5 9.1 8.2 7.7
Asian alone 4.3 3.7 3.7 4.1 4.1 3.5 3.1
Hispanic origin 9.2 7.6 7.3 8.0 7.9 7.0 6.1
Marital status
Married 65.5 65.6 55.4 64.3 62.2 56.6 38.5
Nonmarried 34.5 34.4 44.6 35.7 37.8 43.4 61.5
Widowed 4.6 8.1 27.2 12.0 19.5 28.4 50.6
Divorced 16.9 16.2 10.6 15.3 11.5 8.9 5.5
Never married 9.1 7.1 4.4 5.6 4.4 3.8 3.4
Living with nonspouse family 36.7 27.3 22.0 23.3 21.2 21.1 21.7
Persons in family
1 23.2 24.1 32.0 25.3 27.3 31.1 44.1
2 46.3 54.1 52.2 56.7 56.6 53.6 42.5
3 or more 30.6 21.8 15.8 18.0 16.1 15.4 13.4
Social Security beneficiary 9.0 39.3 84.7 74.8 87.2 89.1 90.9
Number (thousands) 26,829 10,155 39,179 12,160 9,254 7,088 10,676
  Men
Race
White alone 83.9 85.6 87.2 85.4 86.9 87.1 89.8
Black alone 10.2 9.1 7.7 8.7 7.8 7.8 6.3
Asian alone 3.9 3.5 3.6 3.8 3.9 3.6 3.0
Hispanic origin 9.4 7.0 7.2 7.5 7.5 7.1 6.6
Marital status
Married 68.8 71.6 70.5 72.7 74.5 74.1 61.1
Nonmarried 31.2 28.4 29.5 27.3 25.5 25.9 38.9
Widowed 1.9 3.5 12.6 5.2 7.9 11.7 27.9
Divorced 15.9 14.9 9.6 13.3 10.5 8.1 4.7
Never married 9.7 6.9 4.4 5.6 4.2 3.5 3.8
Living with nonspouse family 37.2 28.2 19.6 23.5 18.4 16.7 17.5
Persons in family
1 23.5 21.0 22.6 20.5 20.4 21.2 28.7
2 43.7 54.6 61.2 59.4 63.9 64.3 58.8
3 or more 32.8 24.4 16.2 20.1 15.7 14.6 12.6
Social Security beneficiary 9.1 37.8 84.2 75.0 86.6 89.9 90.1
Number (thousands) 13,050 4,896 17,081 5,600 4,242 3,065 4,174
  Women
Race
White alone 82.1 83.0 85.4 84.0 84.2 86.9 86.9
Black alone 11.6 11.0 9.4 10.1 10.1 8.4 8.7
Asian alone 4.6 4.0 3.8 4.3 4.3 3.4 3.1
Hispanic origin 9.1 8.1 7.4 8.5 8.2 7.0 5.7
Marital status
Married 62.5 59.9 43.7 57.2 51.8 43.3 24.0
Nonmarried 37.5 40.1 56.3 42.8 48.2 56.7 76.0
Widowed 7.2 12.4 38.6 17.8 29.3 41.1 65.1
Divorced 17.9 17.4 11.4 17.1 12.4 9.5 6.0
Never married 8.4 7.3 4.4 5.6 4.5 4.0 3.2
Living with nonspouse family 36.3 26.4 23.8 23.0 23.5 24.5 24.4
Persons in family
1 22.8 26.9 39.2 29.4 33.1 38.6 54.0
2 48.7 53.8 45.3 54.4 50.5 45.4 32.1
3 or more 28.5 19.3 15.5 16.1 16.4 16.0 13.9
Social Security beneficiary 9.0 40.7 85.0 74.6 87.7 88.5 91.4
Number (thousands) 13,780 5,259 22,098 6,561 5,012 4,023 6,502
  White alone
Sex
Men 49.2 49.0 44.1 46.5 46.6 43.3 39.9
Women 50.8 51.0 55.9 53.5 53.4 56.7 60.1
Hispanic origin 10.6 8.3 8.0 8.9 8.8 7.9 6.5
Marital status
Married 68.4 67.7 56.9 66.5 63.7 58.4 39.8
Nonmarried 31.6 32.3 43.1 33.5 36.3 41.6 60.2
Widowed 4.3 7.7 26.6 11.0 18.6 27.5 49.9
Divorced 16.6 16.0 10.4 15.0 11.4 8.8 5.3
Never married 7.7 6.0 4.1 5.3 4.1 3.5 3.1
Living with nonspouse family 34.5 24.4 19.1 20.2 18.2 18.5 18.9
Persons in family
1 22.1 23.4 32.2 24.7 27.4 31.0 45.2
2 48.7 57.0 54.2 59.9 58.8 55.4 43.3
3 or more 29.1 19.6 13.6 15.4 13.8 13.6 11.5
Social Security beneficiary 8.5 40.1 86.2 76.1 88.9 90.3 92.2
Number (thousands) 22,268 8,556 33,768 10,299 7,905 6,166 9,398
  Black alone
Sex
Men 45.5 43.3 38.9 42.3 39.6 41.5 31.7
Women 54.5 56.7 61.1 57.7 60.4 58.5 68.3
Hispanic origin 1.9 3.3 2.4 2.8 2.4 0.6 3.0
Marital status
Married 42.8 45.1 37.7 44.9 42.6 37.8 22.7
Nonmarried 57.2 54.9 62.3 55.1 57.4 62.2 77.3
Widowed 6.6 11.0 33.8 18.2 27.6 38.6 58.5
Divorced 21.8 21.3 15.0 20.5 17.3 11.7 7.4
Never married 20.2 15.8 7.9 9.5 8.2 5.8 6.7
Living with nonspouse family 44.5 41.1 37.6 36.8 35.0 39.7 39.6
Persons in family
1 33.6 33.3 36.4 34.8 33.6 34.9 42.4
2 34.8 36.3 39.2 37.9 42.9 39.9 36.8
3 or more 31.6 30.4 24.4 27.3 23.6 25.1 20.8
Social Security beneficiary 14.1 39.9 79.3 69.3 81.5 84.8 87.2
Number (thousands) 2,924 1,023 3,394 1,153 839 579 824
  Asian alone
Sex
Men 44.5 45.1 42.6 43.3 43.6 44.6 38.8
Women 55.5 54.9 57.4 56.7 56.4 55.4 61.2
Hispanic origin 1.2 1.4 0.6 0.3 1.3 0 0.5
Marital status
Married 73.9 74.0 61.6 67.7 71.6 59.3 42.3
Nonmarried 26.1 26.0 38.4 32.3 28.4 40.7 57.7
Widowed 6.4 8.1 26.1 15.8 20.3 26.6 48.0
Divorced 7.4 7.6 4.3 8.4 1.7 1.8 2.9
Never married 6.4 6.7 3.8 3.3 2.0 5.6 5.3
Living with nonspouse family 59.8 49.4 48.5 48.7 49.3 43.0 51.2
Persons in family
1 12.6 16.1 17.8 16.8 13.9 21.4 21.4
2 32.8 38.4 39.1 38.6 41.7 42.1 34.6
3 or more 54.6 45.5 43.1 44.7 44.3 36.5 44.1
Social Security beneficiary 5.1 21.2 62.8 58.5 64.2 66.8 64.5
Number (thousands) 1,145 379 1,454 496 384 246 328
  Hispanic origin
Sex
Men 49.5 44.6 43.1 42.9 43.6 43.7 42.4
Women 50.5 55.4 56.9 57.1 56.4 56.3 57.6
Race
White alone 95.2 91.8 95.1 94.0 95.4 98.0 94.0
Black alone 2.2 4.4 2.8 3.2 2.8 0.7 3.8
Asian alone 0.6 0.7 0.3 0.2 0.7 0 0.3
Marital status
Married 59.7 59.2 47.5 56.7 49.7 47.6 31.2
Nonmarried 40.3 40.8 52.5 43.3 50.3 52.4 68.8
Widowed 5.7 11.6 27.5 15.6 20.3 30.8 51.1
Divorced 16.8 13.5 10.9 15.2 11.6 8.1 5.9
Never married 10.2 8.6 8.4 5.9 12.9 8.9 6.5
Living with nonspouse family 60.6 52.2 46.3 45.9 43.8 44.9 51.0
Persons in family
1 17.8 20.3 24.5 22.0 24.5 24.7 28.2
2 30.2 34.1 39.0 40.8 40.3 38.2 35.4
3 or more 51.9 45.6 36.5 37.2 35.2 37.2 36.5
Social Security beneficiary 9.4 36.7 71.9 61.5 74.6 77.3 80.3
Number (thousands) 2,482 772 2,857 977 733 498 649
  Beneficiary
Sex
Men 48.7 46.4 43.4 46.2 45.5 43.6 38.8
Women 51.3 53.6 56.6 53.8 54.5 56.4 61.2
Race
White alone 77.8 86.1 87.7 86.2 87.1 88.2 89.3
Black alone 17.0 10.2 8.1 8.8 8.5 7.8 7.4
Asian alone 2.4 2.0 2.8 3.2 3.1 2.6 2.2
Hispanic origin 9.6 7.1 6.2 6.6 6.8 6.1 5.4
Marital status
Married 48.2 63.6 55.1 64.8 62.4 57.3 38.5
Nonmarried 51.8 36.4 44.9 35.2 37.6 42.7 61.5
Widowed 11.6 11.1 28.8 12.9 20.0 28.6 51.2
Divorced 22.4 16.1 10.3 15.1 11.4 9.2 5.7
Never married 13.8 5.9 3.7 5.0 3.8 2.9 2.8
Living with nonspouse family 33.3 24.5 19.6 20.8 18.8 18.7 19.8
Persons in family
1 34.7 25.8 33.2 25.9 28.2 31.8 45.2
2 40.5 55.4 53.2 58.5 58.0 55.0 43.2
3 or more 24.8 18.8 13.5 15.6 13.8 13.2 11.6
Number (thousands) 2,426 3,990 33,177 9,092 8,069 6,313 9,704
  Nonbeneficiary
Sex
Men 48.6 49.4 44.9 45.7 48.1 40.1 42.4
Women 51.4 50.6 55.1 54.3 51.9 59.9 57.6
Race
White alone 83.5 83.1 77.9 80.3 74.2 76.8 75.4
Black alone 10.3 10.0 11.7 11.5 13.1 11.3 10.9
Asian alone 4.5 4.8 9.0 6.7 11.6 10.5 12.0
Hispanic origin 9.2 7.9 13.4 12.2 15.7 14.6 13.1
Marital status
Married 67.3 66.9 57.1 63.0 60.6 51.1 38.8
Nonmarried 32.7 33.1 42.9 37.0 39.4 48.9 61.2
Widowed 4.0 6.2 18.5 9.5 16.0 26.5 43.9
Divorced 16.4 16.2 12.2 16.2 12.4 6.3 3.8
Never married 8.6 7.8 8.5 7.4 8.5 11.5 9.7
Living with nonspouse family 37.1 29.1 35.0 30.6 37.4 40.8 41.0
Persons in family
1 22.0 22.9 24.9 23.5 21.0 25.2 33.6
2 46.8 53.3 46.8 51.5 47.2 42.1 35.4
3 or more 31.2 23.8 28.3 25.0 31.8 32.7 31.0
Number (thousands) 24,403 6,165 6,002 3,068 1,185 775 972
 
Demographic Characteristics of Aged Persons Table 1.2 Percentage of wives with characteristic, by husband's race, Hispanic origin, Social Security beneficiary status, and age, 2010
Wife characteristic Aged 55–61 Aged 62–64 Aged 65 or older
Total 65–69 70–74 75–79 80 or older
  All husbands
Wife age
Under 55 39.6 13.2 3.7 7.5 3.1 1.3 0.7
55–61 52.3 46.9 9.6 19.4 7.8 3.7 1.4
62–64 5.1 30.3 12.5 27.0 9.4 3.8 0.8
65 or older 2.9 9.7 74.2 46.0 79.7 91.3 97.1
65–69 2.3 8.1 26.5 39.6 37.5 12.4 4.6
70–74 0.3 1.3 20.8 5.1 36.5 39.7 9.5
75–79 0.2 0.2 14.2 0.7 4.6 34.9 29.1
80 or older 0.1 0.1 12.7 0.5 1.1 4.2 53.9
Wife race
White alone 86.2 86.3 87.8 85.8 86.8 88.9 91.1
Black alone 7.0 6.9 6.1 7.2 6.5 5.7 4.4
Asian alone 5.2 4.7 4.8 5.1 5.6 4.4 3.6
Wife Hispanic origin 9.1 7.4 6.5 7.1 6.8 6.4 5.2
Wife Social Security beneficiary 7.2 20.6 70.8 50.2 75.1 82.4 87.8
Number (thousands) 8,974 3,506 12,049 4,070 3,158 2,271 2,550
  White alone husbands
Wife race
White alone 98.1 97.2 98.5 97.8 98.3 99.0 99.2
Black alone 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.1
Asian alone 1.0 1.1 0.7 1.0 1.1 0.4 0.3
Wife Hispanic origin 10.1 8.0 6.9 7.7 7.3 7.0 5.2
Number (thousands) 7,765 3,058 10,627 3,519 2,765 2,018 2,325
  Black alone husbands
Wife race
White alone 4.8 3.3 3.4 5.2 1.1 4.8 1.4
Black alone 93.3 95.6 94.1 92.2 95.4 94.0 96.7
Asian alone 0.9 0.5 0.8 0.5 2.0 0 0.6
Wife Hispanic origin 1.9 2.6 3.3 3.7 1.8 1.6 6.9
Number (thousands) 658 244 752 296 206 136 114
  Asian alone husbands
Wife race
White alone 5.4 10.8 1.8 2.9 2.2 0.4 0
Black alone 0.9 0 0 0 0 0 0
Asian alone 92.9 89.0 97.9 96.7 97.6 98.8 100.0
Wife Hispanic origin 1.6 0.2 0.4 0 0 0.4 2.0
Number (thousands) 407 145 488 174 142 88 85
  Hispanic origin husbands
Wife race
White alone 96.9 91.5 95.5 94.2 96.8 99.1 92.6
Black alone 1.0 3.3 2.4 2.5 0.8 0.7 6.1
Asian alone 0.4 0.7 0.8 0.8 1.1 0 1.3
Wife Hispanic origin 86.2 84.1 88.1 88.9 83.9 92.6 88.3
Number (thousands) 778 242 736 276 199 132 130
  Beneficiary husbands
Wife Social Security beneficiary 27.2 33.4 79.5 61.2 82.2 87.5 93.2
Number (thousands) 669 1,304 10,187 3,043 2,756 2,061 2,327
  Nonbeneficiary husbands
Wife Social Security beneficiary 5.6 13.0 23.0 17.7 26.8 32.6 31.5
Number (thousands) 8,305 2,202 1,862 1,027 402 209 223
 
Demographic Characteristics of Aged Persons Table 1.3 Percentage of husbands with characteristic, by wife's race, Hispanic origin, Social Security beneficiary status, and age, 2010
Husband characteristic Aged 55–61 Aged 62–64 Aged 65 or older
Total 65–69 70–74 75–79 80 or older
  All wives
Husband age
Under 55 13.0 4.0 1.2 1.6 0.8 0.5 1.6
55–61 54.5 14.6 2.7 5.6 1.1 1.0 0.4
62–64 19.1 33.7 3.5 7.6 1.7 0.5 0.2
65 or older 13.4 47.8 92.6 85.2 96.5 98.1 97.9
65–69 9.2 34.9 19.4 43.0 8.0 1.7 1.4
70–74 2.9 9.5 26.1 31.6 44.4 8.3 2.2
75–79 1.0 2.7 21.5 7.5 34.7 45.5 6.1
80 or older 0.4 0.6 25.7 3.2 9.4 42.5 88.1
Husband race
White alone 87.0 86.8 89.4 88.6 88.0 91.6 91.3
Black alone 7.0 7.2 5.6 6.1 5.7 4.9 4.9
Asian alone 4.4 3.8 3.7 3.8 4.7 2.9 2.6
Husband Hispanic origin 7.8 6.7 6.0 6.8 5.8 5.7 4.7
Husband Social Security beneficiary 21.4 52.2 83.8 75.8 87.9 87.5 91.9
Number (thousands) 8,611 3,151 9,652 3,752 2,598 1,743 1,559
  White alone wives
Husband race
White alone 98.5 98.0 99.1 98.7 99.1 99.6 99.2
Black alone 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1
Asian alone 0.2 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.1 0 0
Husband Hispanic origin 8.7 7.3 6.4 7.3 6.4 6.2 4.7
Number (thousands) 7,465 2,733 8,601 3,328 2,272 1,583 1,417
  Black alone wives
Husband race
White alone 2.8 2.5 1.5 0.2 3.2 0.8 a
Black alone 95.7 97.5 97.2 98.5 94.0 99.2 a
Asian alone 0.3 0 0 0 0 0 a
Husband Hispanic origin 1.1 0 2.6 2.6 1.3 1.8 a
Number (thousands) 593 218 530 221 152 83 73
  Asian alone wives
Husband race
White alone 15.4 16.8 12.7 12.6 9.1 a a
Black alone 0.6 1.7 1.0 2.5 0 a a
Asian alone 82.1 80.3 85.0 84.3 90.5 a a
Husband Hispanic origin 0.6 0.2 1.4 1.4 1.4 a a
Number (thousands) 439 135 408 162 133 59 54
  Hispanic origin wives
Husband race
White alone 96.4 92.2 94.6 94.3 93.8 97.1 a
Black alone 0.6 2.1 3.5 3.7 3.5 1.4 a
Asian alone 1.3 0.8 0.1 0 0.2 0 a
Husband Hispanic origin 82.8 81.0 83.0 81.0 80.9 90.3 a
Number (thousands) 703 216 621 277 165 106 72
  Beneficiary wives
Husband Social Security beneficiary 55.3 73.4 92.3 87.0 94.3 93.6 98.2
Number (thousands) 499 1,232 8,088 2,846 2,283 1,556 1,405
  Nonbeneficiary wives
Husband Social Security beneficiary 19.3 38.7 39.8 40.7 41.5 36.9 34.3
Number (thousands) 8,112 1,919 1,563 906 316 187 154
a. Fewer than 75,000 weighted cases.