What does this measure?
The growth or decline in the number of residents of a geographic area, broken down by gender and age.
Why is this important?
Population measures provide insight on the changing size and face of communities, and the distribution of population among ages affects the character of and challenges faced by a community. For example, an area with a large concentration of youth will have different service needs currently and in the future than an area with a large elderly population.
How is our county doing?
From 2010-14 to 2020-24 in Essex County, there was more growth in the 60-84 age bracket among both males (39%) and females (31%) than any other age group. The age group with the second largest increase for both males and females was 20 to 39 (14% and 10% respectively). The 40 to 59 age group saw a decline for both males (-6%) and females (-7%) while the 85 and older group saw a decline for females (-4%) and a small increase for males (2%). There was a much smaller decrease in the age brackets of under 20 for males (-1%) and no change for females. These were similar to trends in Massachusetts and the nation, with the exception of the male population over age 85, which grew faster at the state and national levels.
Within Essex County, the City of Lawrence had larger increases for both males and females ages 60-84 (40% for both females and males) than other age brackets. There was a larger decrease for females than males in the age bracket of 85 and older in Lynn (-25% and -14% respectively).
How do we compare to similar counties?
Trends in Essex County were similar to the comparison counties, with more growth in the 20 to 39 age group for both males and females, and smaller growth among males 85 and older.
Notes about the data
Individuals age into and out of these groups, and this indicator should not be interpreted as a measure of groups moving to or away from the region. The multiyear figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined 5 years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. However, because the information came from a survey, the samples responding to the survey were not always large enough to produce reliable results, especially in small geographic areas. CGR has noted on data tables the estimates with relatively large margins of error. Estimates with three asterisks have the largest margins, plus or minus 50% or more of the estimate. Two asterisks mean plus or minus 35%-50%, and one asterisk means plus or minus 20%-35%. For all estimates, the confidence level is 90%, meaning there is 90% probability the true value (if the whole population were surveyed) would be within the margin of error (or confidence interval). The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census.