OKC MAPS PROJECTS – 25 YEARS
Age and Sex Distribution A comprehensive profile of residents in the study area by age in each Census tract is reported in Figure 14. Residents in the study area have a relatively low median age of 34.0 years in 2017. This compares to 34.4 years for the county, 36.3 years for the state, and 37.8 years nationally. The median age of residents in the study area is down slightly from 34.3 years in 2010. Most residents under 18 years of age live in two of the heavily-residential northern tracts (1017 and 1018) and in tract 1026 (Department of Commerce) in the more central portion of the study area. The median age is lowest (19.4 years) in tract 1026, home to a residential high school, and in tract 1040 (18.9 years) stretching south of I-40 to the Oklahoma River. Four southern tracts with a far higher median age include tract 1025 (St. Anthony Hospital, 43.1 years), tract 1091 (Automobile Alley to Cox Center, 60.5 years), tract 1036.02 (Police Department and Courts, 46.7 years), and tract 1037 (Union Station, 52.8 years). The age dependency ratio is a summary measure of the relative size of the typical working-age population group relative to those age groups (both younger and older) typically not working. The measure is defined by dividing the combined number of persons who are either under 18 years of age or ages 65 years and over by the number of persons ages 18-64 years and multiplying by 100. A higher dependency ratio suggests that a region has a greater share of the non-working population dependent upon the working-age population ages 18-64. The overall age dependency ratio of 27.6 for the study area is far lower than the national ratio of 60.8, the state ratio of 64.7, and the county ratio of 62.4. This suggests far fewer residents outside the traditional working ages in the study area. Only tracts 1026 (112.7, Department of Commerce) and 1040 (123.8, South of I-40 to Oklahoma River) have an elevated age dependency ratio, suggesting a higher share of non-working age residents. The high ratio in tract 1026 reflects in part the dormitory residents at the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics. The high ratio in tract 1040 reflects nearly half of residents falling under the age of 18. Several tracts to the south – 1032, 1036.01, 1036.02, 1037, and 1038 – have very low age dependency ratios which reflects a near absence of children under age 18 living in these areas.
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