Silver Alert: Residents over 65 are the city’s fastest-growing population

Saramma Mathew moved to Austin in 2022 to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren. A registered nurse, Mathew lived in Sugarland and worked at a Houston hospital. But after retiring in 2013 and her husband’s death in 2017, she moved to Cedar Park to live with her daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren.

When her daughter’s family moved to Austin five years later, so did she.

“In Cedar Park, I was living with my daughter in a big house, but in Austin, I wanted to be by myself and take an apartment,” Mathew said.

She’s among a growing number of adults aged 65 and older who have moved to the Austin area to be closer to adult children and grandchildren. It’s a phenomenon that seemed to explode when Lee Leffingwell was Austin’s mayor from 2009–2015.

Leffingwell spotted a trend that has since accelerated: People 65 and older now are the fastest growing segment of Austin’s population, city data show. That growth poses challenges that some say aren’t getting enough attention from policymakers more concerned about addressing the needs of younger people flocking to Austin’s tech-centric job market and culture.

“We got some surprising news out of 2010 Census that we were a major destination for retired people over 65 and also people approaching retirement age,” said Leffingwell, now 85. Leffingwell established a task force on aging during his tenure.

“One of the big things is maintaining morale,” Leffingwell said. “And it involves showing the older population we’re thinking about them.”

Even apart from the influx of older adults, Austin’s population has been aging. The percentage of residents under 18 contracted, with the number of children under five falling in absolute terms. It’s worth noting that city figures show Austin aging faster than many peer cities. U.S. Census data record the median age of Austinites rising from 31 in 2010 to almost 35 in 2023.

“Austin is one of the top migration magnets for all ages,” said William Frey, a demographer with the nonprofit Brookings Institution research group in Washington, D.C. “A lot of people move there and just stay there. Baby boomers are a big population, and that population moved up into the over-65 age group.”

More aging Asians and whites 

Frey has studied U.S. Census data for Austin’s five-county metropolitan area for years. He said he believes that this trend is a combination of aging in place and migration patterns.

While Texas overall is becoming less white, Frey told the Austin Free Press that Austin is bucking that trend, as seen in its older population. “White and Asian populations are growing while Black and Latino (populations) aren’t.”

Vanessa Fuentes, the Austin City Council who represents neighborhoods in Southeast Austin’s District 2, says she’s focused on initiatives that support older constituents, who make up 8 percent of her district’s largely Hispanic population.

In northwest Austin’s whiter District 10, by comparison, 15 percent of the residents are in that age group. Districts 1 through 4, which have the largest concentrations of African Americans and Hispanics, have single-digit percentages of older adults. Meanwhile, districts 5 through 10 — with larger concentrations of white residents — are all in double digits.

 Tech divide

Fuentes says she’s particularly concerned about addressing the digital-literacy divide and protecting older adults from hacking, spam and cyberattacks.

“I’m really concerned about individuals preying on our senior community,” she said. “We need to protect the data and financial security of our seniors. It’s an area I’m exploring right now.”

The digital divide is a big challenge, especially given the city’s push to publish information on city services and policies online instead of using the mail or other means to reach seniors.

East Austinite Barbara Scott says many older people complain about how much life focuses on phone apps and being online. “Communicating with the city is more of a challenge,” she said. “Communicating with people, period, is more of a challenge.”

Scott is over 70 and active in northeast Austin’s Colony Park neighborhood, where she moved in 1974. Many things in Austin seem “geared toward younger people,” she said. “I do not think it’s geared toward seniors at all.”

Citing the city’s 2023 “walkability” plan to promote walking, biking and mass transit, Scott says many parts of town won’t have such features for years. She also noted how disparities between affluent and lower-income neighborhoods impact seniors.

“If I lived in Hyde Park, I could maybe walk to a grocery store, but when you live in a community such as mine, there’s no grocery store, medical facility or library in walking distance,” she said. “We do have a park and a swimming pool, but if you’re not in excellent condition, you probably would not do it.”

The city should put more effort into being “more age-friendly,” Scott said. “When you’re over 65, you’re not necessarily wanting to be walking. It depends on your health.”

Brigid Shea, the Travis County Commissioner representing Precinct 2, says that during the current winter-weather uncertainty she’s “very concerned about how we can provide assistance to homebound elderly in case of climate-based disasters.” Shea served on the Austin City Council from 1993-1996.

Responses fall short 

Recommendations from Leffingwell’s task force established Austin’s Age-Friendly Action Plan in 2016. But a 2022 review by the city found such efforts falling short. Despite hiring an “age-friendly program coordinator,” moves to meet older adults’ transportation and affordable housing needs were lacking.

Over 70, Saramma Mathew is active in her church and family. She picks up her 13-year-old granddaughter after school and drives the eighth grader to volleyball and fencing. Mathew’s grandson is in 11th grade.

While she’s independent, Mathew says many older adults need help with transportation to get to the grocery or clothing stores or get a haircut. Leffingwell acknowledges that transportation still is “a big problem” for many.

Another outcome of the task force was Austin’s Commission on Aging, which advises the City Council. Commission member Gloria Lugo spoke for herself, not the commission, when she said the city needs to do more than listen to the commission’s advice.

“One thing is listening, and another thing is doing it,” Lugo said.

In November, the Austin City Council approved a resolution to prioritize co-op housing for older adults and those with disabilities near public transit corridors, particularly within equitable transit-oriented developments. The aim is to expand housing choices for individuals on fixed-incomes and at risk of homelessness.

Bobbie Barker, who co-chaired Leffingwell’s task force, applauded Travis County voters for approving a property-tax increase in November to expand affordable childcare for lower-income families. But she noted that “no money is set aside to support adult day care.”

“More seniors need to go to work, but they also need adult day care,” Barker said. “We have a significant percentage of the population who are seniors at the poverty level or lower. There’s a pretty good percentage of folks 65 and older who are working or trying to find work.”

Jacqueline Angel also served on the Leffingwell task force. As a professor of health and social policy at LBJ School of Public Affairs and a University of Texas-Austin sociology professor she’s advocated for Intergenerational Day Centers that provide childcare and adult day care at one location.

“The City of Austin cannot do everything,” she said, noting that the state, county and local communities must all pitch in. “Austin is young and hip, but we are getting older.”

Sharon Jayson has previously worked at USA Today and the Austin American-Statesman. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Time magazine and The Washington Post.