The old joke that when you turn 65, you are required to move to Florida is close to the truth. In 2004, 17 percent of Florida’s population was over 65, the highest percentage in the United States...

The old joke that when you turn 65, you are required to move to Florida is close to the truth. In 2004, 17 percent of Florida’s population was over 65, the highest percentage in the United States (California had the highest raw numbers of elderly persons). West Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, and Iowa followed, at 15 percent each, but Nevada is catching up: Between 2003 and 2004, its elderly population increased by 4.2 percent. By 2030, six states are expected to have elderly populations of 25 percent or more: Florida, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Wyoming (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005).