Older adults outnumber children in 23 Indiana counties

Geodemographic Analyst, Indiana Business Research Center, Indiana University Kelley School of Business

As recently as 2021, older adults outnumbered children in only 5 Indiana counties. As of 2024, older adults outnumber children in 23 Indiana counties.

Earlier this summer, the U.S. Census Bureau published a press release, “Older Adults Outnumber Children in 11 States and Nearly Half of U.S. Counties,” highlighting the shrinking gap between the number of children (which historically is higher) relative to the number of older adults (see Figure 1).¹ In this article, we dive deeper into the population dynamics between these two age groups within Indiana.

Figure 1: Comparison of oldest and youngest age groups nationwide, 2024

Since 2020, Indiana’s total population has grown 2% (see Table 1). The number of children has gone down slightly — a trend that is projected to continue.² Meanwhile, the number of older adults (age 65 and older) has increased by 11%. The number of older adults will continue to grow as the youngest of the baby boomers continue to reach retirement ages in the coming years.³

Children under 18 currently comprise 23% of Indiana’s population (down from 24% in 2020), while older adults comprise 18% of the population (up from 16% in 2020). Indiana children still outnumber older adults by more than 372,000, but that gap is shrinking (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: The difference between number of children and older adults in Indiana

Source: IBRC, using U.S. Census Bureau population estimates

County analysis

As recently as 2021, older adults outnumbered children in only 5 Indiana counties. Each year, that number of counties has increased, and as of 2024, older adults outnumber children in 23 Indiana counties (see Figure 3).

Interactive Figure 3: Counties where older adults outnumber children

Two counties have older adults outnumbering children by more than 1,000 as of 2024. There are 1,892 more older adults than children in Brown County and 1,397 more in Steuben County.

While statewide, older adults comprise 18% of the population, 65 of Indiana’s 92 counties exceed that percentage. Brown and Ohio counties have the highest percentage of older adults relative to their total populations (28% and 25%, respectively). At the other end of the spectrum, Tippecanoe (13%) and Marion (14%) counties have the lowest proportion of older adults overall.

Looking ahead

The population projections released by the Indiana Business Research Center in July 2024 provide additional insight into what may lie ahead in the coming years.⁴ Note that these population projections use five-year age groups, so the term “children” for this particular data set is defined as ages 0 to 19, which slightly differs from the “under 18” definition from the U.S. Census Bureau used earlier in this article.

Based on these projections, while the gap between the two age groups will continue to shrink, older adults (age 65 and older) are not projected to outnumber children (ages 0 to 19) at the statewide level at any time during the 2025-2060 projection period (see Table 2).

Interactive Figure 4: Counties where it is projected that older adults will outnumber children

Thus, while Indiana may not be at the forefront of this demographic trend when compared to other states, an ever-increasing number of regions within the state will be impacted by it as we move further into the 21st century.