Aging And Affluent: Leelanau Is Northern Michigan's Fastest-Aging County

In a region known statewide and beyond as a popular retirement destination, Leelanau County has the most rapidly aging population. Such was the key takeaway last week from a presentation given to the county’s Board of Commissioners by Leelanau Senior Services Director Lena VanderMeulen and Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Michigan (AAANM) CEO Kandi Lannen. According to the pair, Leelanau County’s over-60 population now exceeds 40 percent – the highest rate of any northern Michigan county.

Since 1974, the AAANM has served a 10-county region that includes Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Manistee, Missaukee, and Wexford counties. The organization works to advise residents on “complex aging needs,” explore options for aging assistance, and connect seniors and their families or caregivers with support services. According to Lannen, most counties in AAANM’s service area have populations where 25-35 percent of residents are 60 years old or older. Leelanau County, with a 42 percent over-60 population, is the outlier.

Those numbers are based on 2023 estimates formulated from a 2022 American Community Survey. Per that study, Leelanau’s population trend is identified as “aging, affluent,” compared to “strong growth” for places like Grand Traverse, Emmet, and Missaukee, where the 60-plus percentages are all in the 20s. In fact, of the 10 counties serviced by AAANM, Leelanau is the only one with a 60-plus population in the 40 percent range. Benzie has the second biggest population of seniors, with 36 percent, while Grand Traverse County clocks in at 28 percent.

“From 2015 to 2023, the total population in Leelanau County grew from 21,578 to 22,416, with a projected increase to 23,291 in 2025,” Lannen’s presentation noted. “This is a steady growth of about 7.9% over a decade. More striking is the rapid increase in the 60+ population: In 2015, 37% of residents were aged 60 and older. By 2023, that number climbed to 42%, with 9,547 people in that age group. This segment has grown by over 1,500 people in just eight years. This reflects broader trends seen in rural and retirement-friendly regions: Leelanau is becoming older as retirees move in or residents age in place.”

For years, local senior advocacy professional have been banging the drum for increased aging support services in northern Michigan, citing the fast-growing nature of the senior population and the insufficient workforce to provide in-home care, nursing home services, and other key supports. Leelanau, Lannen noted, has long been ahead of the curve on that front, thanks larely to Leelanau County Senior Services. That county government department has been serving local seniors since 1975, and has been funded through a countywide millage since 2002. This year, the department has a $1.376 million budget, 94 percent of which will be paid for by millage funds.

“Without the senior millage, the area would definitely be having a greater impact [from these aging trends],” Lannen told commissioners. “There are counties throughout the state that don’t have a millage, and they really struggle to get other types of grants [for these types of services].”

Following Lannen’s presentation last week, County Commissioner Alan Campbell also wondered aloud whether Leelanau’s concurrent status as one of the state's wealthiest counties might offset some of the concerns that other areas with aging populations have. While Campbell noted that Leelanau would still have to worry about “who’s going to mow the lawns, who’s going to take care of folks,” he noted that its dynamic as an affluent county created a “buffering effect” where “most of the need is for people who can afford it.”

“Folks who need help, we’ve got to help,” Campbell conceded. “But there’s two sides to that, and being affluent hurts you, as far as affordability of homes, as far as folks needing government help. But it also helps you, in that a lot of folks have their own means and are not in dire straits from the money side of it.”     

Notably, though, not all of Leelanau’s seniors could be described as affluent. According to Lannen’s report, there’s been a steady rise in the county of older adults living in poverty, up from 292 qualifying for that federal definition in 2015 to 590 in 2023 – “more than a 100 percent increase in just eight years.” The county’s overall poverty level has declined in that time, from 10.4 percent in 2015 to 7.1 percent in 2023 – though, as previously reported by the Leelanau Ticker, its proportion of households just barely making ends meet has skyrocketed in the same period.

“This trend is critical,” Lannen’s presentation noted of the rise in over-60 poverty. “It suggests that even as Leelanau County becomes a hub for older adults, a growing share of them are struggling economically – possibly due to rising healthcare costs, fixed incomes not keeping pace with inflation, or lack of affordable housing and services.”

On that front, Board Vice Chair Ty Wessell asked Lannen whether sweeping federal cuts to Medicaid – part of the federal government’s recently-approved “Big Beautiful Bill” – could exacerbate Leelanau’s senior poverty numbers by hurting service organizations like AAANM.

“So far, we have not heard,” Lannen told Wessell. “What we’re hearing in our network so far is the Medicaid for older adults…will be unaffected unless there are people currently in the system that are not U.S. citizens.” Lannen added that she is working to learn more details, and that she will share information with commissioners once she has it.

With so much of Leelanau’s population now in the over-60 bracket, and with more of those individuals falling into poverty, VanderMeulen concluded the Senior Services presentation with a call-to-action for everyone to lend a hand where they can.

 “Our seniors are facing real and increasing challenges, including housing, transportation gaps, caregiver burnout, and economic disparities,” VanderMeulen noted. “Many seniors remain unseen or disconnected. It is up to all of us to notice and support them. You can make a difference. Check on your neighbors. Help them connect to services. Be a voice for awareness and access.”

Pictured: A slide from Lannen and VanderMeulen's presentation to the Board of Commissioners.