Are African Americans Aging in Place? Geospatial Analysis of the Naturally Occurring Retirement African Americans’ Communities in Chicagoland

Tekleab Gala^1, and Anita Holmes¹

¹Department of Geography, College of Arts and Sciences, Chicago State University 321 William Science Building, 9501S King Dr, Chicago, IL 60628, USA

Cite this paper:
Tekleab Gala and Anita Holmes. Are African Americans Aging in Place? Geospatial Analysis of the Naturally Occurring Retirement African Americans’ Communities in Chicagoland. American Journal of Public Health Research. 2022; 10(3):113-123. doi: 10.12691/ajphr-10-3-4

Abstract

The population of aging African Americans is growing every year, and so is its ratio to the working population. The main issue concerning aging African Americans is their post-retirement economic security and finding locations suited for their quality retirement. Hence, this study assessed settlement patterns of older African Americans in Chicagoland and relations with the patterns of African Americans of all ages and older Americans of all races. Accordingly, the older African American population, 65 years and above, represent 11% of the older Americans of all races. Moreover, in 291 census tracts, found in 4 of the 6 Chicagoland counties, significant clustering (i.e., P-value <0.05) of the higher percent older African American population is observed. This distribution is positively associated with the population of African Americans of all ages and older Americans of all races (i.e., P-value <0.05). Therefore, the settlement patterns of aging African Americans in Chicagoland follow a few attributes of Aging in place as well as local relocation to attain a better-quality retirement in some suburban neighborhoods.

Keywords:
aging American retirement planning naturally occurring retirement communities (norcs) geographical information system Chicago metropolitan area

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