{"id":590150,"date":"2026-04-22T09:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T09:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=590150"},"modified":"2026-04-22T09:45:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T09:45:00","slug":"nearly-1-in-4-americans-over-65-are-still-working","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=590150","title":{"rendered":"Nearly 1 In 4 Americans Over 65 Are Still Working"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly 1 In 4 Americans Over 65 Are Still Working<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

For a growing share of Americans, retirement no longer starts at 65.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This map, via Visual Capitalist’s Gabriel Cohen,<\/a> shows where people aged 65 and older are still working across U.S. states, based on 2024 data from the U.S. Census Bureau via\u00a0FinanceBuzz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

About 22% of Americans 65+ remain in the workforce, but the share climbs to nearly one-third in some states. The gap highlights how cost of living, job availability, and shifting retirement systems are reshaping when\u2014and whether\u2014Americans stop working.<\/p>\n

The Workforces With The Most Seniors<\/h2>\n

The New England states of Vermont and New Hampshire (both\u00a028.6%<\/strong>) lead the country in the number of seniors still working, followed by South Dakota at\u00a027.6%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A clear regional pattern emerges: Northeastern states dominate the top ranks, with many posting rates above 26%. Higher living costs and longer life expectancy likely contribute to more Americans 65+ staying in the workforce.<\/p>\n

Most people are not working full-time, however. In fact, among its retirement-age workers, Vermont has the highest concentration of part-time employees nationwide, reflecting in part the social role work plays in many older Americans\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n

The Two Full-Time States<\/h2>\n

On the flip side, there\u2019s Maryland, which has the highest share of full-time retirement-age workers in the country.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maryland and Hawaii are actually the only two states in which a majority of working people aged 65 and up are employed full-time. Full-time work is generally essential for seniors who cannot rely on other retirement sources of income, such as Social Security, or who obtain needed benefits through their job.<\/p>\n

The decline of traditional pensions is a key driver behind this shift. With retirement savings increasingly tied to 401(k) plans and market performance, many Americans are working longer to maintain financial security.<\/p>\n

West Virginia and the Truly Retired<\/h2>\n

Among the 50 states in the country, West Virginia (16.7%<\/strong>) has the lowest share of retirement-age workers. It\u2019s followed by Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, and Oregon, all of which sit around 19%.<\/p>\n

In lower-ranking states like West Virginia and Arkansas, fewer Americans 65+ remain in the workforce\u2014likely reflecting a mix of fewer job opportunities and lower living costs. In these areas, retirement may still be more attainable than\u00a0continuing to work<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They may also have differing lifestyle preferences, electing to devote more time to family commitments than to the structure or social component of a job or so-called \u201cside hustle.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you enjoyed today\u2019s post, check out\u00a0Mapping Unemployment Claims per 100,000 Workers<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Voronoi<\/strong>, the new app from Visual Capitalist.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nWed, 04\/22\/2026 – 05:45<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly 1 In 4 Americans Over 65 Are Still Working For a growing share of Americans, retirement no longer starts at 65. This map, via Visual Capitalist’s Gabriel Cohen, shows where people aged 65 and older are still working across U.S. states, based on 2024 data from the U.S. Census Bureau via\u00a0FinanceBuzz. About 22% of… Continue reading Nearly 1 In 4 Americans Over 65 Are Still Working<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":590151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,22,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-590150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-border-security","category-immigration","category-immigration-reform","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=590150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/590151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=590150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=590150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=590150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}