Growing population of Alaska seniors propels healthcare industry.

• Author: Miller, Amy
• Position: ALASKA TRENDS

Although Alaska is known as one of the youngest states in the United States, the coming years will see a rapidly increasing population of Alaskans aged sixty-five or older--and with that change will come growth in Alaska's healthcare industry.

According to the US Census Bureau, only 9 percent of Alaska's population was sixty-five-plus in 2013, compared to 14.1 percent in the rest of the United States. But Alaska is about to see a dramatic rise in this segment of its population as more and more baby boomers who moved to Alaska during the pipeline years of the 1970s and early 1980s have bucked the trend of earlier generations and are remaining in the state for their senior years.

Alaska's healthcare industry, already one of its strongest private-sector employers, is due to grow well ahead of the rest of the job market as more and more of these aging Alaskans need healthcare. According to the October 2014 edition of Alaska Economic Trends, a publication of the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, healthcare will lead job growth between 2012 and 2022.

During that ten-year period, Alaska is projected to add jobs at a rate of 10.8 percent, but in the healthcare industry, specific segments will grow much faster. Hospital employment is projected to rise 20.1 percent. A portion of this...