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Area follows state trend of aging communities

Photo

Katherine Curtis

Photo

David A. Rasmussen

The number of older people grew faster in Rock and Walworth counties in the past 10 years than the number of younger people, putting the area in step with a statewide aging trend, according to the latest data released from the 2010 census.

Rock County’s population of people younger than 45 shrunk by 3,307 between 2000 and 2010, while the number of people 45 or older increased 11,296, according to a Gazette analysis of census data.

In Walworth County, the number of people younger than 45 went up 941, but the number of people 45 or older jumped 9,808.

Only one area municipality, the village of Walworth, recorded a drop in its median age, while the city of Whitewater’s median age did not change.

The graying trend was most pronounced in rural townships.

In Magnolia Township, for example, the median age jumped 10 years, the biggest change among area municipalities. The median age in the rural farming township south of Evansville is 44.4.

The median age marks the middle of the population—half is older and half is younger.

“In general, where we tend to see an aging population in rural America is in rural communities—farming. That trend is pretty standard across the United States,” said Katherine Curtis, demographic specialist and faculty affiliate of the Applied Population Laboratory at UW-Madison.

In Janesville, the median age is 37.1, an increase of 1.8 years. The number of children ages 5 to 14 decreased by 146, while the category of residents age 25 to 44 dropped by 880.

The median age in the area ranges from 21.9 in Whitewater to 50.6 in Fontana.

Wisconsin has grown older as the baby boomer generation ages and the child population falls. Areas of the state that have seen an increase in kids also are the areas where the Hispanic population has increased, Curtis said.

This summer the census will release age breakdowns by race and ethnicity.

“At that point … we’ll have a fuller sense of what exactly is going on,” she said.

Aging townships

When Magnolia Town Clerk/Treasurer Graceann Toberman collects taxes, she’s seen that most farms aren’t changing hands.

“I think Magnolia’s been very lucky. (We’ve) had a small amount of turnover in the homes,” she said.

Township residents ages 44 and under dropped by 199 in the past 10 years. At the same time, residents 45 and older increase by 109.

Toberman guesses it’s because original landowners have remained, while the township has no industry to attract young families.

She was surprised to see 2010 census numbers show a 10 percent population decrease to 767 residents, which she said she couldn’t explain. Magnolia tied with La Prairie Township for the largest Rock County population decrease in the last decade.

The township has one subdivision and one mobile home park, and only one or two homes are built each year in any economic environment, she said.

Three neighboring townships—Spring Valley and Porter in Rock County and Decatur in Green County—rounded out the municipalities with the greatest increase in median age.

Townships make up 31 of the area’s 32 oldest municipalities, while cities and villages round out the bottom, or youngest, of the list.

So what happens to the communities as farms dwindle and no new development replaces the population?

“That’s the big question,” Curtis said.

There are only three options: population grows, declines or remains stable.

“When we see a place aging, (a) farming community, that typically means we would anticipate continued decline in those specific areas unless something changes,” she said.

Across rural America, formerly agricultural areas have been sold for housing development, which brings a reduction in the median age, she said.

Lake effect

Affordable housing near Geneva Lake and the proximity to the Illinois border contribute to the village of Walworth being the only area community to become younger in the past 10 years, village President David Rasmussen said.

Whitewater, stabilized by thousands of UW-Whitewater students, had no change in its median age, holding steady at 21.9.

Rasmussen, an attorney who has served 24 years on the village board, often heard in the past that Walworth was labeled a “starter-home” area.

“Now the music has stopped, (and) quick advancement slows down, a lot of people say it’s not so bad to stop” and stay in Walworth, he said.

With a median age of 36.1, Walworth recorded an increase of 85 residents under 5 years old and a decrease of 26 residents 75 and older. That’s in a village with a population of 2,816, which was an increase of 22 percent in the last decade.

While other lake communities saw a decrease in the 25-to-44 age category, Walworth’s numbers went up by 74.

“We’ve still managed to attract people in that age group,” Rasmussen said.

Walworth is in sharp contrast to its neighboring village of Fontana, which is the oldest area community with a median age of 50.6.

Fontana’s population of 1,672 in the summer jumps to 8,000 or 9,000, Village Administrator Kelly Hayden said.

“It’s safe to say our full-time residents have been here many, many years,” she said.

Rasmussen attributes the age difference between the communities to the cost of housing. People who want to live in the Geneva Lake area can find more affordable housing in Walworth than Fontana. That attracts families with children to Walworth, lowering the median age.