The ranks of the nation’s very old – those over 85 – who are among the first in line for a vaccine against the potentially lethal coronavirus have swollen by more than 1 million people during the last decade and now make up almost 2 percent of the U.S. population, according to a Social Explorer analysis of newly released 2015-19 American Community Survey data. 

Although the largest percentages of senior citizens, or people older than 65, are generally found in central Florida, the greatest concentration of very old Americans is in counties on the Great Plains. Faulk County, S.D., has the highest percentage of very old seniors in the nation – 8 percent of its population is older than 85, followed by McPherson County, S.D. (7.7 percent) and McIntosh County, N.D. (7.1 percent). View the percentage of very old Americans in your county with Social Explorer’s customizable, online mapping tools.

Very Old Americans, 2010-19. Click here to explore further.

Author: Frank Bass