Americans continue to defy tradition by staying in the workforce well past the age of 65—a trend that is running strong in some states more than others, according to a study by personal finance website SmartAsset.
"While age 65 was considered full retirement age for half a century, employment is becoming more and more common for people in their mid-60s and older," SmartAsset writes in its newly released report. "Roughly one in five Americans 65 and older remained in the labor force."
SmartAsset's study looked at the 34 largest U.S. metro areas to determine where senior citizen labor participation was the strongest as of 2021, the most recent year for which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has relevant data.
Among those cities in SmartAsset's list with the largest senior workforces, ranked from lowest to highest, are:
10. (tie) Phoenix
Phoenix has a senior labor force participation rate of 21.7% and it has seen a robust 1.5% increase in that category between 2019 and 2021. Average earnings for senior workers in Phoenix increased from $9,408 to $93,659 in 2021.
10. (tie) Memphis, Tenn.
Memphis, like Phoenix, has 21.7% of people 65 and older in the labor market, which is a 0.5% increase since 2019. The city has the fourth-lowest average earnings for seniors, at $69,902 per year. The unemployment rate for seniors is just 0.7%.
9. Seattle
Seattle has 21.4% of seniors working or looking for jobs. The city also had the second-largest increase in average earnings for senior citizens, with working seniors earning $12,264 more in 2021 than they did in 2019.
8. Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth has 22.7% of seniors still working or actively seeking employment, which is the eighth highest number among the cities studied. The city also saw its labor force participation rate for seniors rise 4.6% between 2019 and 2021, which tops the rankings.
7. Denver
In the Mile High City, 22.9% of seniors over 65 were still in the workforce in 2021, which was a 2.4% increase from 2019. Denver seniors who continue to work earn $116,545 per year on average. Senior unemployment is 1.6%.
6. Nashville, Tenn.
The Nashville-Davidson area has the sixth-highest senior labor force participation rate, at 23.1%. The senior unemployment rate is just 1.9%.
5. Los Angeles
Working seniors in L.A. earn over $106,000 per year, which is the 13th-highest in the study. The city's senior labor participation rate was 23.3% in 2021, a 2.2% increase from two years earlier.
4. Houston
The senior labor participation rate in this city is 23.4%, which is just a 0.3% increase from 2019. Senior unemployment was among the highest of the studied metro areas at 2.2% in 2021.
3. Austin, Texas
More than a quarter of all people 65 and older in Austin (25.2%) were still in the labor force in 2021, a 0.5% increase from two years earlier. Seniors in the state who work earn an average salary of $114,742, which ranked ninth.
2. Washington, D.C.
The nation's capital has 26% of seniors still in the workforce. The city is tied with Phoenix for the eighth-largest increase, 1.5%, in the working senior population from 2019 to 2021.
1. Dallas
The city has the top senior labor participation rate at 28%. Senior unemployment rose 0.4% between 2019 and 2021, reaching 1.7%.
This full report can be viewed here.
