Demographics
The silver tsunami, in numbers
People talk about the aging of America as if it were coming. It is already here. The numbers below come from federal sources, and none of them depends on a prediction.
Start with the calendar
By 2030, every baby boomer will be 65 or older. That is not a projection about behavior or markets. It is arithmetic. The people who will need care in the coming years have already been born, and we know how many of them there are.
Who lives in assisted living today
The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics studies residential care communities, the category that includes assisted living. Its most recent data brief describes who lived in those communities in 2022.
- 1,016,400 people lived in residential care communities on a given day.
- 53% of them were 85 or older.
- 44% had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or another dementia.
- 62% needed help with three or more daily activities, such as bathing, dressing or walking.
What the numbers mean
Read together, they describe a resident who is older and needs more help than most people picture. More than half are past 85. Nearly half live with memory loss. Most need hands-on help several times a day.
That changes what a good building looks like. A resident in her late eighties who is living with dementia does not need a long hallway, a large dining hall and a rotating cast of staff. She needs a short walk to the table, a familiar face and a team that notices when something is different today.
Why we build the way we do
This is the reason we chose boutique Mansions with sixteen private suites and one dedicated team, with assisted living and memory care together under one roof. The design follows the resident the data describe, not the resident a brochure imagines.
It is also the reason a firm that started in apartments moved into senior living on purpose. The need is real, it is measurable, and families are asking for something better than what is on offer.
Sources: CDC National Center for Health Statistics, NCHS Data Brief No. 506, August 2024 (2022 National Post-acute and Long-term Care Study). U.S. Census Bureau.
Follow the build.
A short note when something real happens. No pitch.