Elmore County population projected to grow to 127,617

October 14, 2008

This increase in number of people aged 65-plus will require various adaptive strategies in health care, living arrangements, employment, recreational programs and other activities. In addition, retirement and other older-age programs will need to adapt to the growing number of senior citizens in the state.

In contrast, our state preschool-age population (0-4 years) will not change much in the next three decades. It will remain roughly around 300,000. In fact, the relative size of the preschool age population will slightly decrease from 7 percent of the total population in 2005 to about 6 percent in 2035.

Our projections also show major changes in the Montgomery Metropolitan Planning Organization area. Each of the three counties in the MPO zone is expected to grow during the next three decades. The biggest growth will be in Elmore County, where the population will increase from 73,303 in 2005 to about 127, 617 by 2035. Autauga County's population is expected to increase from 47,917 in 2005 to 72,669 in 2035. Montgomery County is expected to grow from 222,302 people in 2005 to about 257,155 by 2035.

There will be considerable changes in age structures in these three counties. First, the number of people aged 65-plus will more than double in each of the three Montgomery metropolitan area counties. This high growth of senior populations will necessitate new services and various types of programs, including work environments that accommodate seniors. Now that they live longer, many senior citizens will eventually return to school, either for fun, or to learn new skills which they can use to better their lives. Therefore, colleges and universities should be prepared to introduce more educational programs that will meet the needs of this older population.

Demographic projections, especially those that give detailed information on age structure, are essential for development planning, long-range transportation planning, and income determination and future budgeting plans. The Center for Demographic Research at AUM will release its long-range population projections for Alabama and for the Montgomery Metropolitan Planning Organization area by the end of this month. Specific area projections will be constructed upon request, to help metropolitan areas, counties, and cities/towns in their long range planning efforts.

Yanyi K. Djamba is director of the Center for Demographic Research and associate professor of sociology at Auburn University at Montgomery. The center's Web site is www.demographics.aum.edu.

Yanyi Djamba
Director of the Center for Demographic Research
Auburn University Montgomery/ Montgomery Advertiser
www.demographics.aum.edu