New And Old Neighbors: The Percent of Home Owners Who Moved Into Their Home in the Last 5 Years Versus Those That Moved in More Than 20 Years Ago

An interesting way to look at whether neighborhoods are turning over or not is to see how many people recently moved in as home owners compared to how many have lived there for decades.

Below are two charts which show the percent of homeowners that moved into their home within the last 5 years versus those that have lived in their homes for more than 20 years. It would appear that fewer people are moving as often as they have in the past, and a greater percentage of people have remained in their homes for longer than 20 years.

Households With a Vehicle And Someone Age 65 or Older Present In Herkimer County

One in four households with a vehicle in Herkimer County have at least one elderly resident present according to the American Communities Survey.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Regional First Time Home Owners: 1980 to 2010

First time home owners are cited by several sources (California Association of Realtors, Realtor.org, and Demo Memo to name a few) as typically being people in their late twenties to early thirties. At present this would be the Millenial Generation.

Below is a graphic showing the percent of people age 25 to 34 that were homeowners in 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2010 (based on the 2012 Five Year ACS estimates). As you can see there has been a decline in homeownership among the age group typically seen as comprising first time buyers - namely those between 25 and 34 years of age. Less than half of young adults currently own a home, versus as many as 54% from this age grouping that owned homes back in 1980.

A Touch O' The Green: Regional Irish Heritage

After looking at the decline of people born in Ireland who live among us regionally, there are many of us who either are, or who claim to be, of Irish heritage. According to the 2013 One Year Estimates of the American Communities Survey, more than 45,000 regional residents said that they were "Irish" when asked about their ancestry.

Below is a graph showing the number of residents in the Herkimer and Oneida County region combined that said they have Irish heritage in the ACS from 2005 to 2013. As you can see, it appears as though fewer people in the region have been identifying themselves as Irish for most of the last decade. Click to enlarge the graph.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

100 Year Look at the Regional Population Actually Born in Ireland

While many of us claim to have Irish heritage, if only for one day a year, there was a time when those actually born in Ireland numbered in the thousands in our region. The graphic below shows how that number has dwindled in the last 100 years, to barely one percent of what it had been a century earlier!

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Leaving It To Beaver: Children Under 18 Who Live in Two Parent Families With Only One Working Parent

Demo Memo, a great website for interesting looks at Census data, recently posted a piece about children under the age of 15 that live in a "Leave It to Beaver" world - one where the mom stays at home while the dad works a job supporting the household.

While the exact same data isn't readily available on a county basis, there is some comparable information that gives us an idea of how many families experience a similar 1950's lifestyle. Admittedly the data isn't perfect. UPDATE: ACTUALLY THERE IS PRETTY CLOSE DATA IN THE ACS TO THE DATA ACCESSED BY DEMO MEMO. TABLE B23008 SHOWS THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN IN TWO PARENT FAMILIES BASED ON WHETHER BOTH PARENTS WORK, THE FATHER WORKS, OR THE MOTHER WORKS. IT DEALS WITH CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 18 (VERSUS 15 IN DEMO MEMO).  First off, it is counting families, not children (as was done in the Demo Memo piece). It also is measuring the number of dual parent working, not the number of "moms" staying home (dads obviously sometimes stay home as well. Lastly, it doesn't necessarily mean that the parent staying home is doing so out of a desire to rear the kids - they may be looking for work or be disabled, etc.

So all in all it is a tenuous comparison. But regardless it does provide some insight into the number of families with children under the age of 18 where at least one parent is home - or the converse, the number of families where both parents work !

UPDATED GRAPHIC!

Women in The Workforce: 1960 to 2010

As part of Women's History Month, the percentage of women making up the workforce in Herkimer County, 1960 to 2010.

Boomergedden: Senior Citizens as a Percent of Population in Herkimer County

This graphic shows the projected rise of senior citizens (people age 65 and older) in Herkimer County. The projections are from the Cornell University Program on Applied Demographics. The historical data comes from the US Census decennial counts. Some have referred to this movement of Baby Boomers into the ranks of senior citizenry as "Boomergedden".

Click on the graphic to enlarge it.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Herkimer County Seniors Within Family Households (2013)

Living in a family household means that you have at least one other relative or spouse living with you. For seniors (those age 65 and over) in Herkimer County, family households often have many different parts present. The graphic below shows some of the people in those family households where someone age 65 or over is present. Click the graphic to enlarge it.

CLICK TO ENLARGE