EXCELSIOR SPRINGS – Clay County and Excelsior Springs’ populations are skewing toward aging, Cathy Boyer-Shesol told city leaders June 21.

Boyer-Shesol is project manager for the Mid-America Regional Council’s KC Communities for All Ages initiative. During a PowerPoint presentation, she gave breakdowns for projected state and county demographic shifts over a 20- year span, 2010 to 2030.

In 2010, Hickory was the only Missouri county whose 65-and-older population topped 25%. By 2030, Hickory and 37 other counties are expected to have a senior population topping 25%, data show.

Clay County’s senior population is expected to rise, but not to top 25% by 2030. In 2010, the senior population ranged between 10 and 15%. The number is projected at 15 and 20% in nine years.

Clay’s 55-plus population is expected to reach 48,778 by 2030 – a 95.2% increase from 2010.

The increase ranks fifth among the metro area counties MARC serves. Johnson County, Kansas, is expected to have the highest increase at 144.4%, followed by Platte County, 116%; Cass County, 109.7%; and Miami County, Kansas, 102.3%.

The 2010 to 2024 projections for Excelsior Springs anticipate more residents 55 and older, with the number for ages 60-64 projected to hit 800, and ages 55-59 and 65-69 each expected to hit 700.

“It helps to lay the case that, indeed, Excelsior Springs – like so many other cities in our region … (is) experiencing (a) kind of shift,” Boyer-Shesol said.

She chronicled Excelsior Springs’ achievements in KC Communities for All Ages: bronze-level recognition in 2016; silver, 2017; and progress toward gold.

“We’re so pleased that … Excelsior Springs is a part of the program, and I look forward to having you elevate to the gold level,” Boyer-Shesol said.

Excelsior Springs ... (is) experiencing (a) kind of shift. ‘

CATHY BOYER-SHESOL

MARC