Florida currently has the largest population of persons 65 years and over 

 of any of the 50 states. Most immigrants came to Florida for employment or to 

 retire. In 1960-80, the number of retirees, age 65 or over, rose from 11.2% 

 of the population of Florida in 1960 to 14.5% in 1970, and to 17.7% in 1980 

 (Florida Chamber of Commerce 1979). The average was about 10% nationally. 

 Percentages in other age groups in 1978 were 21% (0-14 years), 39% (15-44 

 years), and 22% (45-64 years) . 



NORTHWEST FLORIDA 



Population Change 



The population of Northwest Florida was 537,061 in 1980 (Table 1). Since 

 1950, its population has grown more slowly than the State average. For 

 example, Florida's population grew 78.7% in 1950-60, 37.2% in 1960-70, and 

 43.4% in 1970-80. The population growth of Northwest Florida was 58.5% in 

 1950-60, 20.1% in 1960-70, and 22.0% in 1970-80. Of the seven counties in 

 1950-80, the population of Escambia County was the largest, Okaloosa County 

 grew the fastest, and Franklin County grew the slowest (Table 1). 



Northwest Florida's population growth (natural increase and net migra- 

 tion) in 1950-80 is shown in Tables 2, 3, and 4. A natural increase is calcu- 

 lated as the number of deaths subtracted from the number of births over a 

 given period of time. In 1950-80, most of the population growth in Northwest 

 Florida was a natural increase rather than from immigration (Tables 3 and 4). 

 For example, in Northwest Florida in 1970-80, net migration increased 48.8%, 

 whereas migration for the State as a whole was 91.1% (Table 4). 



Population Projections 



Population growth in Northwest Florida is expected to be relatively light 

 in 1982-2000 and then remain constant until 2020 (Figure 1 and Table 5). 



Sex, Age, and White/Non-White Characteristics 



The methodology used to compute estimates of the population and changes 

 in this report assumes that the net effect of migration on the age, race, and 

 sex components of a county's population in 1970-80 was similar to that of 

 1960-70. Lewis (1980) rationalizes this approach rather than using current 

 symptomatic data. 



Males outnumbered females in the 1950 census of the seven Northwest Flor- 

 ida counties (Table 6). White males outnumbered White females, and non-White 

 females slightly outnumbered non-White males. The sex composition in 1960 and 

 1970 was similar (Tables 7 and 8). In 1978, females outnumbered both White 

 and non-White males (Table 9). 



In Northwest Florida, people younger than 18 years made up about 40% of 

 the population in 1960, 36% in 1970, and 33% in 1978 (U.S. Department of Com- 

 merce, Bureau of Census 1963, 1973; Florida Statistical Abstract 1979). The 

 elderly (65+ years) made up 5% of the population in 1960 and 8% in 1979, and 

 those between ages 18 and 64 made up 55% and 59% of the population in 1960 and 

 1978. For all age groups. Whites made up 84% of the Northwest Florida popula- 

 tion in 1960 and 85% in 1970. 



