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Executive BriefIntroductionNational HighlightsFindingsHealth OutcomesSocial and Economic FactorsPhysical EnvironmentClinical CareState RankingsAppendixMeasures TableData Source DescriptionsMethodologyState Summaries
US Summary
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
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California
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Connecticut
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District of Columbia
Florida
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Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
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Louisiana
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Michigan
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US SummaryAlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingThe United Health Foundation is proud to release the America’s Health Rankings® 2024 Senior Report, which examines 52 measures of health from 24 distinct data sources to present a comprehensive overview of the health and well-being of the nation’s older adults.
The United Health Foundation, a longstanding champion of public health and Healthy People 2030 goals, is proud to be recognized as a Healthy People 2030 Champion, with America’s Health Rankings measuring progress towards these goals and health equity through data collection and the 2024 Senior Report.
This year’s Senior Report finds that America’s older adults make progress in measures of social connectedness and access to clinical care but struggle with socioeconomic barriers.
- High-speed internet access rose to 84.8% between 2021 and 2022 — an increase of nearly 2.3 million households with older adults age 65 and older.
- Newly available data on unpaid elder care found that 37.1 million people (age 15 and older) provided unpaid care or assistance to an older adult in 2021-2022.
- The number of geriatric clinicians increased 4% between September 2022 and September 2023.
- Several measures of economic well-being worsened.
- Between 2021 and 2022, poverty increased 6% among older adults — an increase of almost 553,000 older adults.
- The percentage of older adult households for which housing costs were more than 30% of household income rose 3% — an increase of more than 741,000 additional older adults struggling with high housing costs in 2021-2022.
- Between 2020 and 2021, food insecurity increased 8%.
- Depression increased 6% and frequent mental distress rose 11% between 2021 and 2022. For both measures, there were large disparities by disability status.
- The early death rate fell 8% — there were nearly 55,700 fewer early deaths in 2022 than in 2021. While an improvement, the early death rate is still higher than the pre-pandemic rate.
- Drug deaths increased 51% nationally between 2017-2019 and 2020-2022.
- The healthiest state for older adults was Utah. This was followed by Colorado, Vermont, New Hampshire and Minnesota. Mississippi was the least healthy, followed by Louisiana, West Virginia, Kentucky and Oklahoma.