There was a time in Alaska when folks joked that seniors – long known for their ability to survive whatever circumstances the land dealt them – were called sourdoughs because they were sour on the land and had no dough to leave.
Back in the 1960s, seniors were a very small percentage of a very small population, but as demographer Eric Sandberg notes in the March issue of Alaska Trends – a publication of the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development – seniors today play a bigger role in the state than ever before.
Historically the population was made up of children, young families, the military, transient workers and other youth groups, such as recent college graduates.
Just after statehood, in 1960, only 2% of the population was over 65, compared to 9% nationally. Just 5,400 residents were over 65. Through the 1970s, the median age in Alaska was around 23. Then from the 1970s through the early 1980s came the folks to work on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and in the oil industry.
By 2020 the state’s senior population rose to 95,000 people over 65 and by 2024 the senior count reached 115,000 – 16% of the population.
Today the highest percentage of seniors live in Southeast Alaska and the lowest number live in Southwest areas of the state. Haines has the highest number of seniors percentage wise, at 29%, but every area of Southeast has a higher-than-average senior population. Anchorage and Fairbanks are the lowest outside of western Alaska at 14% and 15% respectively. The Kenai Peninsula Borough, popular with retirees, is at 22%.
Alaska has long been known for having more men than women. The current ratio is just 108 males to 100 females, still the nation’s highest. While Alaska’s historical male-female skew is a major reason our current senior ratio is so close, the relative youth of the senior population is another. Alaska’s median senior age is 72.1, nearly a year younger than Wyoming, the next youngest state for seniors.
Seniors’ living arrangements differ from the rest of the country – with a slim 53% majority living with their spouse – compared to 49% of all adults. Another 3% live with an unmarried partner, compared to 9% for all adults.
About 27% of Alaska seniors live alone, matching the national senior average. Senior Alaska women generally tend to live longer and senior men are more likely to be married to younger women. Senior Alaska men are also more likely to have never been married.
Many Alaska seniors continue to work, sometimes because they want to, but often because they need to, Sandberg wrote. In addition to financial necessity, it could be a sign of seniors remaining healthier longer than in the past, he said.
The overall percentage of U.S. seniors in the workforce fell through most of the 20th century, then began to climb. Alaska seniors, by contrast, have always been more likely than their Lower 48 counterparts to work, Sandberg said.
In 2023, median household income for Alaska seniors was around $69,000, up from $58,500 in 1990.
Eighty-two percent of Alaska seniors also own their own home.
People tend to relocate less as they get older. In the last five years, Alaska seniors comprised only 9% of the state outmigration. The population of snowbirds – Alaskans who live part of the year out of state – is hard to measure, said Sandberg, because they are still residents.
Estimates are that Alaska’s 65-plus population will continue to grow for the next decade, but at a slower rate, with the current senior population of 115,000 increasing to 135,000 by the mid 2030s.
