22% of retirement-age Americans are still working; these states have the most
FILE - Woman sits at a dining table at home, working on a laptop.
More Americans who are at retirement age are still working compared to almost 40 years ago.
Data collected by LendingTree found that while the number of U.S. adults who are 65 and older and are still in the workforce has declined slightly between 2022 and 2024, the percentage is still double what it used to be in 1987.
In 1987, only 11% of adults that were 65 and older were still working, according to Pew Research data.
As of March 2024, 22% of adults who are 65 and older are still in the workforce partly because of the higher cost of living.
Other factors included improved health, higher education levels and the flexible job landscape such as remote work.
Who is working where?
About half of adults who are 65 and older are working for private companies, according to Lendingtree.
That’s more than any other sector including government jobs, nonprofit organizations, self-employment or family businesses.
But that pattern is similarly reflected among other age groups.
More adults 65+ in New Jersey are still working
Several states showed significant increases in the number of adults who are retirement-age and are still working.
The biggest increase was seen in New Jersey from 20.3% in March 2022 to 33.8% in March 2024.
Other states that saw an increase were Delaware from 19.8% to 27.2% and Indiana from 17.4% to 23%.