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Seniors

In addition to basic Census data about age, there are a small number of Census tables which focus directly on data about older Americans, and on grandparents as caregivers.

It is more trouble than you might guess to get a simple count of the number of people 65 and older in a geography. The most direct route is to take a table which has a universe 'Population 65 Years and Over' and use the value from the first (total) column. As of the 2012 ACS releases, the preferred table for this is B09020. With the 2012 release, B09020 is available in all of the 1-, 3- and 5-year releases.

Otherwise, here are Census tables pertinent to senior citizens:

B09020: Senior citizen living arrangements

Table B09020 can be used to determine how many citizens 65 years or older live alone, live with family members or non-relatives, or live in assisted living or other institutions (what the census calls "Group Quarters"). This table counts citizens who are the "parent-in-law" of the householder separately, while that relationship was previously included with "other relatives."

B11007: Households by presence of senior citizens

Table B11007 counts households instead of individual people. It is another way to identify the number of households with seniors living alone, compared to households with seniors living with other people, family or non-family.

B23004 and C23004: Working seniors

Table C23004 is only available in the 1- and 3-year ACS releases. It provides a simpler view of this data, with no age breakdown and then whether the person was working or trying to work at the time of completing the survey, retired, or long-term unemployed.

Grandparents

The ACS has many tables providing various information about cases where grandparents and grandchildren live together. In various combinations, these tables provide data on the grandparent's responsibility for the grandchildren, the presence of the grandchildren's parent in the home, the employment, disability, poverty and marital status of the grandparents, and information about the housing itself: how long the grandparents have lived in their home, how many housing units are in the home, and more.

For all of these tables, "Grandchildren" refers to children under 18 years old.

Code	title
B10001	Grandchildren Living With a Grandparent Householder by Age of Grandchild
B10002	Grandchildren Living With a Grandparent Householder by Grandparent Responsibility and Presence of Parent
B10010	Median Family Income for Families With Grandparent Householders And/or Spouses Living With Own Grandchildren by Responsibility for Own Grandchildren and Presence of Parent of Grandchild
B10050	Grandparents Living With Own Grandchildren by Responsibility for Own Grandchildren by Length of Time Responsible for Own Grandchildren for the Population 30 Years and Over
B10051^†	Grandparents Living With Own Grandchildren by Responsibility for Own Grandchildren by Presence of Parent of Grandchildren and Age of Grandparent
B10052	Disability Status of Grandparents Living With Own Grandchildren by Responsibility for Own Grandchildren and Age of Grandparent
B10053	Nativity by Grandparents Responsible for Own Grandchildren by Age of Grandparent
B10054	Language and Ability to Speak English of Grandparents Living With Own Grandchildren by Responsibility for Own Grandchildren and Age of Grandparent
B10056	Sex of Grandparents Living With Own Grandchildren by Responsibility for Own Grandchildren and Age of Grandparent
B10057	Marital Status by Grandparents Living With Own Grandchildren by Responsibility for Own Grandchildren and Age of Grandparent
B10058	Employment Status of Grandparents Living With Own Grandchildren by Responsibility for Own Grandchildren and Age of Grandparent
B10059	Poverty Status in the Past 12 Months of Grandparents Living With Own Grandchildren by Responsibility for Own Grandchildren and Age of Grandparent
B10060	Units in Structure of Grandparents Living With Own Grandchildren by Responsibility for Own Grandchildren and Age of Grandparent
B10061	Tenure of Grandparents Living With Own Grandchildren by Responsibility for Own Grandchildren and Age of Grandparent
B10063	Households With Grandparents Living With Own Grandchildren by Responsibility for Own Grandchildren and Presence of Parent of Grandchildren
^†Also available in racial iterations.