More and more older adults are aging in place and this number tells a story. Specifically, 93% adults aged 65 and older currently live at their own place or home. Of this percentage, 60% prefer to live at their own home while they age, as opposed to being in an assisted care facility or a nursing home (Pew Research, 2026). However, while the preference for living in one’s own home as someone ages has become more common, there are various factors to consider when deciding to live at one’s place as an individual, or by deciding as a family for someone.
What is Aging in Place?
Aging in place is defined as residing in a community-based dwelling place for the remaining of one’s life. This place could be a home where one grew up in, or a house where one moved into when one got married and had family. For those who chose to be single, this is the place where they decided to retire in, and live the rest of their days.
Aging in Place Statistics by Gender
Why do most of adults in the US choose to age in place? By looking at these statistics, one would be able to ascertain the numbers, and perhaps, the rationale behind this choice.
According to Population Reference Bureau, at the 20th century turn, there were more men than women aged 65 and above. But the number, 102 men for 100 women in the same age group, is not that wide of a gap. While the ratio dipped to 67 in the 1990, this same ratio is projected to increase to 86 by the year 2060.
The dip in the ratio in the 1990 was due to the health habits of female and male adults aged 65 and older. PRB collated factors such as smoking as tantamount to an increase of risk in lung cancer, coronary heart disease, stroke, and pulmonary disease.
As efforts geared toward information, education, and communication are heavily focused on increasing life expectancy by banning smoking, and advocating for programs that advocate for healthy lifestyle, all of these are factors which could increase the ratio of men and women life expectancy.
Aging in Place Arrangement Statistics
Pew Research conducted a survey on older adults’ living arrangements. While a high number of older adults prefer to live at their own home, some experience uncertainties. Since 60% prefer to live at home as they age, the rest have various preferred arrangements too. 18% of older adults prefer to live in a facility assisted by professionals, while 11% would opt to live with someone in the family. A small percentage, at 1% prefer the nursing home, and 8% have other arrangements which are not specified in the survey.
One of the major findings of the Pew Research’s survey was that one factor that older adults consider when deciding for assisted living facility, nursing home, or aging in place is whether they have long-term care insurance. The survey revealed that only 21% of older adults have long term care insurance.
Factors to Consider for Those Who Want to Age in Place
Aging in place offers independence, but long-term success requires matching a senior’s personal needs with their environment.
- Financial Safeguards: Only 21% of older adults currently hold long-term care insurance (Pew Research, 2026). Without it, families must evaluate out-of-pocket savings for retrofitting or future part-time clinical help.
- Social Isolation Risks: Living alone safely depends heavily on community integration. Chronic loneliness among seniors is structurally linked to higher rates of cognitive decline and cardiovascular health issues.
- Health and Habit Patterns: Managing chronic conditions effectively plays a significant role in longevity. Reductions in smoking and proactive chronic illness prevention are documented drivers of narrowing gender life-expectancy gaps (PRB, 2026).
Government Assistance Programs That Cover Home Modifications and Care
Public assistance is heavily decentralized but offers critical pathways for low-to-moderate-income seniors who need environmental modifications or home health care.
- Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Waivers: The primary vehicle for state-level funding. These waivers explicitly pay for non-medical home health aides, personal care assistants, and specific structural accessibility revisions (like wheelchair ramps).
- VA Aid and Attendance Benefits: An additional pension tier for eligible veterans and surviving spouses. It adds monthly cash to help cover the costs of daily personal care, which can directly offset home modification expenses.
- HUD Older Adult Home Modification Program (OAHMP): Federal grants specifically allocated to local non-profits and housing authorities to fund low-cost, high-impact home safety retrofits for low-income seniors.
How to Assess Whether a Senior’s Home Is Actually Safe
Assessing a senior’s home requires looking into hidden traps that would limit mobility and eventually could result in hazards. Below are the zones in the houses, the physical hazards to ascertain, and the required safety intervention to make a senior’s home safe.
While aging in place sounds ideal, what matters is that the security of the age group who have retired and have contributed so much to the economy. It is necessary that safeguards and safety protocols are in place for any untoward emergencies that would arise for older adults who prefer to live at their own home, their childhood place, or their family’s house, which are filled with good old memories.
References
Lin, L., & Horowitz, J. M. (2025, November 6). How Americans are thinking about aging. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2025/11/06/how-americans-are-thinking-about-aging/
Parker, K., & Lin, L. (2026, February 26). Most older adults want to age at home, but many aren’t confident they can. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/02/26/most-older-adults-who-live-at-home-want-to-age-in-place-but-they-arent-entirely-confident-theyll-get-to/
(2026, January 21). The U.S. population is growing older, and the gender gap in life expectancy is narrowing – Population Reference Bureau. Population Reference Bureau. https://www.prb.org/resource/u-s-population-is-growing-older/
USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. (2025, March 4). The Value of aging in Place – USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. https://gero.usc.edu/about/our-field/the-value-of-aging-in-place/
