Agenda - 05-01-2012 - 7a - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

2012-2017 Orange County Master Aging Plan Not all older adults in Orange County are alike. Approximately 57% of Orange County's adults age 65+ live in Chapel Hill Township, 12.5% in Hillsborough Township, and 30.5% in the remaining five other Townships, including Bingham, Cedar Grove, Cheeks, Eno, and Little River.10 See the map on page 15 for the distribution of persons age 60+ throughout Orange County, based on 2010 US Census data. • Gender: While Bingham, Cheeks, Eno, Cedar Grove, and Little River townships have relatively equal ratios of older adult women to men, Chapel Hill's ratio is 1.4:1 and Hillsborough's is 1.5:1.10 Hillsborough Township has the highest ratio of women to men age 85+ (3.2) while Little River has the lowest (0.95).10 This represents an increase in the proportion of inen age 85+ in at least both Hillsborough Township and Cheeks Township compared to the time of the last MAP (Hillsborough and Cheeks were both formerly 4:1, and Cheeks is now 2:1).~ ~ • Employment: The 2006-2010 American Community Survey estimates that older adults age 65+ in Chapel Hill Township experience the highest employment rate (36.7%), while Little River experiences the lowest (0%), where none are thought to be in the labor force.12 The rest of the townships range from 20 to 35 percent.' 2 • Poverty: It is important to note that the employment figures may be underestimates of the contributions of older adults to the workforce due to the nature of Census data collection methods. Still, it follows that Little River Township has the highest percentage of adults age 65+ living below the poverty level (20.7%).13 Bingham Township has the lowest with 2.3%, while the other townships range from 6 to 12% of adults age 65+ living below the poverty level.~ 3 • Education: As seen in Table 1.1, residents in Orange County are well educated relative to residents of the state of North Carolina as a whole. Some discrepancies exist between Orange County townships, however. In particular, Cedar Grove has the highest percentage of adults age 65+ without at least a high school diploma (54.9%) compared to the other townships that fall between 11.3% in Chapel Hill to 32.7% in Hillsborough.~ 4 • Housing and Transportation: In each township, most adults age 65+ live in family households, from 61.3% in Little River to 80.8% in Bingham.~s In each township, though, numerous older adults live alone, from 13% in Little River to 35.5% in Hillsborough.15 Additionally, some households age 65+ in Orange County's townships do not have a vehicle.16 While this may be less important in townships such as Chapel Hill and Hillsborough that have access to a variety of transportation options, areas in the rural parts of the county such as Cedar Grove, where 1 3.3% of householders age 65+ do not have access to a vehicle, warrant unique attention with regard to navigation and transportation services.16 13