Grand Rapids and Kent County are fresh faces in an aging state.
The county has more individuals under the age of 15 than adults 65 years old or older, one of just 17 Michigan counties where children outnumber seniors. Michigan has 83 counties in total.
The median age in Grand Rapids is 33.3 years old, seven years younger than the state median. Kent County is slightly older, with a median age of 36.4 years old, according to the 2024 U.S. American Community Survey.
Seniors make up nearly 15% of Kent County residents, and children are nearly 21% of the county population. Kent has the largest percentage of children relative to seniors among counties. Wayne County is second, with seniors making up 16.6% of the population and children making up 20.9% of the population.
Of Michigan’s 10 most populous counties, seven have larger shares of individuals 15 and younger than of adults 65 and older. Small counties, like Alcona with just over 10,000 residents, tend to have older populations. The share of seniors there is 37%, and the median age is 60 years old.
Additionally, many of the younger counties, like Ingham, Kalamazoo and Ottawa, contain cities. The rural counties in Michigan are much older than their urban counterparts.
Of the 17 counties where children make up a larger share of the population than seniors, five are close to flipping, the difference in population share less than one percentage point.
Grand Rapids has led the Midwest in population growth, according to a Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce Report. Census data estimates that the city has grown 1.2% from 2020-25.
Michigan has experienced 0.9% population growth over the past four years, largely owing to international migration and with slight increases from domestic migration. Since 2020, Michigan has experienced “natural decrease,” more deaths than births. State demographers expect this to continue as the Baby Boomer generation, the largest age cohort, continues to age.
This is consistent with national trends. An Economist article noted that in 1990, fewer than 5% of American counties had a larger share of seniors compared to children. In 2024, that percentage had ballooned to nearly half of all American counties.
These demographic trends have implications for housing, education, workforce, and social welfare programs.
The ACS measures the ratio of both dependent children and older adults relative to the working age population. The old age dependency ratio for Grand Rapid is 19.7 persons 65 and older per 100 working-age adults. In Kent County, the old age dependency ratio is 25.6. Both are lower ratios than the state as whole, whose old age dependency ratio is 32.9. The national ratio of elderly individuals to working-age adults is 29.7.
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