The Census Bureau’s Business Dynamics Statistics of Human Capital (BDS-HC) tables classify firms based on their share of workers over age 55. Workers 55 or older have been the fastest-growing age group in the labor force for more than two decades and made up 24% of the U.S. workforce in 2022, up from 10% in 1994.
Analysts matched administrative tax records of workers to tax records of firms, and calculated the share of a firm’s workforce that falls into this older age category. Firms in some industries and some states had a much greater concentration of older workers than others. The data tables break out employment by age, race/ethnicity, gender, education level, and average firm size. When writing stories about issues like retirement, health and pension benefits, ageism, or post-retirement work trends, these data can help reporters slice and dice the information in numerous ways:
- Where and why are older people working?
- What industries seem more “age-friendly?”
- Are people working because of a need for income or other benefits, or because they enjoy their jobs and want to continue?
- What do these statistics mean for housing, transportation, leisure and overall quality of life for older people?
Deeper Dive
Researchers sorted firms with similar shares of older workers into six groups: Firms with 10% or fewer older workers;10% to 25%; 25% to 50%; 50% to 75%; 75% to 90%; and more than 90%.
- A 100-person firm in the “10% or fewer” group would have, at most, 10 workers over age 55. A 100-person firm in the “more than 90%” group would have at least 90 older workers. The distribution of older workers across firms has shifted over time.
- In 2006, 45 million workers were employed by firms with less than 10% older workers. But as the workforce aged, this number fell to around 32 million in 2022.
- At the same time, employment at firms with at least 25% of older workers rose from 13 million to 35 million.
- The utilities sector experienced the most dramatic transformation in the past two decades. At least a quarter of workers are 55 or older in 80% of all firms in this field, compared to 35% of firms in 2006.
- Retail Trade and Accommodation and Food Services sectors have relatively few firms employing a high share of older workers. In Florida, only a quarter of firms in this field employed 25% or more workers over 55.
There are several potential explanations for this difference, according to the Census Bureau, including what industries are prominent in each state or what occupations are commonly held by workers. There may also be differences in how the labor market matches workers and firms in these states.