Age of Population

Pittsburgh remains one of the oldest metropolitan regions in the nation. The selective out migration of younger workers shifted the age structure of the region in the 1980’s. Today the impact is being felt not only in terms of the disproportionate elderly population, but also in the loss of people from the follow-on generations.

Pittsburgh’s population of residents age 65 is the largest among all benchmark regions, and is growing. From 2017 to 2018, the older population increased 0.5 percentage points from 19.5 to 20 percent. The region’s population of children under the age of 18, on the other hand, is the smallest among benchmark regions. From 2017 to 2018, the child population decreased slightly by 0.1 percentage points from 19.0 to 18.9 percent. The population of adults age 18-64 also decreased during that same time period by 0.4 percent.