New Jersey is growing, but isn’t getting any younger.
While the population of the Garden State inches forward, the median age of its residents is inching upwards. The steady growth of the population comprises of mostly immigrants, but not necessarily young people.
So what’s making the state grow ‘older?’ Aging Baby Boomers.
“Two things are happening. You have a number of communities that have large single family homes and inhabited by baby boomers. These households have empty nesters, left with two people in their late 50s and 60s. That brings the age up in the average. On the other hand you have other communities along the Hudson river waterfront where younger couples raising families are moving in with kids. That is also highly correlated with school system data,” said James Hughes, university professor and dean emeritus of Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.