Surprisingly, Michigan Has Among America’s Highest Percentage of Counties with Most Senior Citizens

When you think of areas where senior citizens may outnumber younger people, you'll likely think of Sunbelt locations like Florida and Arizona. After all, there are those Sun City-type communities that are exclusively 55+. So it will likely surprise you that Michigan has 3 of the top 25 counties in the entire country with the largest percentage of people aged 65 or older.

The map comes from Maptitude, a mapping software company, and shared on Reddit recently. The most elderly county in America is indeed in Florida. Sumpter County in the central part of the state near Orlando has a 65+ population of 58%. There are 4 other counites in Florida among the top 25 nationally with the highest percentage of elderly populations. That other steroyptical Sunbelt state, Arizona? Just one county in that state, La Paz, is among the top 25. Virgina and Michigan each have 3 counties in the top 25.

READ MORE: The Internet Is Just Discovering How Large The Michigan Territory Once Was

Michigan's counties that rank in the top 25 nationally for the highest percentage of the population as senior citizens are all in Northern Michigan.

Alcona in the Northern Lower Peninsula near Alpena has 36% of its population above the age of 65. In the Western Upper Peninsula, Keweenaw County is 36% seniors while Ontonagon is 37%. Interestinly, both of those counties sandwich Houghton County, but the influence of Michigan Tech University makes it, along with the other 'college counties' - Marquette County/Northern Michigan University and Chippewa/Lake Superior State University -  in the UP the youngest in the region.

In addition to the rural Upper Peninsula, the sleepy Northeast Lower Peninsula around Alpena, counties like Presque Isle, Cheboygan amd Motmorency also lead in elderly poplations but not quite in the Top 25 nationally.

No counties in any state that borders Michigan are included in the most-elderly in America.

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Michigan's 'youngest' counties are, not surprisingly either home to universities or urban and fast growing like Isabella (Mount Pleasant/CMU), Ingham (Lansing/MSU), Kent (Grand Rapids), Kalamazoo (WMU) and Washtenaw (Ann Arbor/UofM).

See the full map here.