Which US states have the highest share of residents aged 70 and older in 2025?
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Executive summary
Available reporting does not provide a direct, authoritative list of U.S. states ranked by the share of residents aged 70 and older for 2025; instead, public sources report state shares for older brackets (commonly 65+) and median ages, which must be used as proxies when estimating which states likely have the largest 70+ populations [1] [2]. Using these proxies, Maine and Florida consistently top lists for the highest shares of older residents, with other New England and retirement-attracting Sun Belt states appearing near the top in multiple sources [3] [4] [5] [6].
1. What the question actually asks — and what the sources can and cannot tell readers
The user’s explicit request is for states with the highest share of residents aged 70+, a precise age cutoff that the provided reporting does not supply; most accessible public reporting and analyses focus on 65+ or median age as the standard metric, so any answer here must transparently treat 65+ shares and median-age rankings as imperfect proxies rather than direct measures of the 70+ cohort [1] [2].
2. The clearest, repeated signal: Maine is the “oldest” by share of older adults
Multiple analyses identify Maine as the state with the highest concentration of older residents using 65+ metrics — ConsumerAffairs reports Maine’s share near 22.9% (65+) and Visual Capitalist cited Maine at about 21.2% (65+) for earlier years, and USAFacts reported Maine leading with roughly 23.5% 65+ in 2024 — all of which strongly indicate Maine would also rank very high for the 70+ slice even if the exact share is not provided [3] [4] [7].
3. Florida’s dual role: huge absolute numbers and high shares of seniors
Florida appears consistently as the state with one of the largest senior populations both in absolute terms and as a high share of residents 65+, driven by historical retirement migration; Statista and ConsumerAffairs highlight Florida’s very large 65+ population in absolute numbers and prevalence among the top states, and Visual Capitalist lists Florida near the top of share rankings as well — that combination makes Florida a near-certain high-ranking state for the 70+ bracket too, even though direct 70+ shares aren’t provided [8] [3] [4].
4. New England and retirement magnets: the broader pattern, and why 70+ likely follows 65+
Beyond Maine and Florida, reporting repeatedly groups Vermont, New Hampshire and several Midwest and Sun Belt states among the “oldest” by share or median age; Global One Home Care and WorldPopulationReview flag Vermont and other New England states as having very high 65+ shares and median ages, and PRB notes that by 2030 many states will have profiles similar to today’s Maine or Florida with 20%+ 65+ populations — a demographic momentum that implies states high in 65+ rankings are the likeliest candidates to top any 70+ ranking as well [5] [2] [6].
5. Caveats, competing metrics and potential agendas in the data
Different outlets use different thresholds and sometimes conflate absolute counts (California has the most people age 65+ by number) with share-based rankings (California’s 65+ share is lower than Maine’s), and commercial sites or advocacy pages often highlight metrics that support particular narratives (retirement-industry pages emphasize Florida; Northeast-focused analyses emphasize Maine/Vermont) — readers should note these methodological differences before treating 65+ results as definitive proxies for 70+ shares [8] [6] [3].
6. Bottom line answer and recommended next steps for precise 70+ counts
Based on the available reporting for 65+ shares and median age, Maine and Florida are the clearest leaders in high shares of older residents and therefore the most probable top states by share of residents aged 70+ in 2025, followed by Vermont, New Hampshire and several Mid‑Atlantic/Northeastern and Sun Belt states that rank high on 65+ or median‑age lists; however, the specific 70+ breakdown for 2025 is not present in the supplied sources, so obtaining an authoritative 70+ ranking requires direct Census or American Community Survey cross‑tabs for the 70–74, 75–79, 80+ cohorts [3] [4] [5] [8] [1].