States With the Most & Least Politically Engaged Seniors

While all eyes are on Kamala Harris and Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election, it is America’s seniors who may decide who sits in the Oval Office next year in what is expected to be a razor-thin election. 

In the 2020 election, the outcome hinged on just 43,000 votes across three key swing states. Notably, seniors turned out in record numbers, with 74% voting—more than any other age group—compared to 69% of those aged 35-64 and 57% of voters aged 18-34.

Facing major quality-of-life issues in 2024 – including inflation, social security, and healthcare – seniors are even more engaged this time around according to a recent YouGov-CBS News survey which found that 92% of adults 65+ plan to vote. 

Older voters have historically been more aligned with the Republican Party. However, both major political parties have undergone significant transformations in recent decades. Additionally, a record 43% of Americans now identify as independents, making them the largest political bloc in the nation.

Like all groups, seniors are not a monolith, and like the rest of us, they will carefully weigh the issues that matter most to them before casting their vote.

A  recent AARP survey of 44 competitive Congressional districts found older adults are concerned with a wide range of issues including personal financial issues, border security, threats to democracy, reproductive rights issues, Social Security and government spending. 

Interestingly, in this poll, Medicare ranks among the least important issues to older adults despite the fact that over 98% of older adults are enrolled in Medicare and many have growing concerns about the future of the program. 

To determine which states have the most politically engaged seniors, it is important to look beyond voter turnout in the 2020 election and party affiliation. 

It's also critical to look at how politically active seniors have been since the 2020 election – such as turnout in local elections, donations to political causes, and how closely older adults been keeping up with hot-button issues in the news. As we know, the silver wave is set to upend traditional views of aging, and politics is no exception. 

As we head into the 2024 election season, Seniorly has released a study to identify which states (including Washington, D.C.) have the highest and lowest levels of political engagement among seniors. This analysis is based on the latest federal data across seven key metrics:

• Voter turnout
• Organizational membership
• Collective action
• Contact with public officials
• Donations to political causes
• Following social issues in the news
• Discussing political issues with friends and family. 

You can find the full methodology at the bottom of the page.

Here’s what we found:

• Washington, D.C. Is No. 1: Older adults in the nation’s capital are more likely than those anywhere else in the U.S. to donate to political causes (38.1%), join organizations (48.3%) and discuss social issues with friends and family (79.8%).
• Mississippi Ranks Last: A below-average share of adults 55+ in Mississippi take collective action (33.2%), follow the news regularly (76.1%) or donate to political causes (7.3%). However, they were just as likely to vote in the last local election as their peers in other states (67.8%).
• Battleground States Run the Gamut: Among the six key battleground states in the 2024 election, Arizona is home to the country’s most politically engaged seniors (No. 15), while Wisconsin is home to the least engaged (No. 47).
• Western States Are Most Politically Engaged, Southern Are Least: Five of the top states are out West (No. 3 Colorado, No. 5 Oregon, No. 6 Alaska, No. 7 Montana and No. 9 Wyoming). Meanwhile, eight of the bottom 10 states are in the South: No. 51 Mississippi, No. 50 Alabama, No. 48 Arkansas, No. 46 Louisiana, No. 45 West Virginia, No. 44 Oklahoma, No. 43 Florida and No. 42 Kentucky.

Top States

It should come as no surprise that Washington, D.C. ranks as the most politically engaged place in America for older adults. The U.S. capital has high rates of collective action (78.9%), political donations (38.1%), voting (85.9%) and organizational membership (48.3%). D.C.’s older adults also don’t shy away from discussing social issues with friends and family (79.8%).

Vermont, Colorado, Minnesota and Oregon round out the top five. These states tend to have high voting rates – notably, No. 3 Colorado has the highest voter turnout rate in the U.S., with 87.6% of adults 55+ saying they voted in recent local elections . They are also more likely to make political donations, get in touch with public officials, read the news and discuss social issues on a regular basis.

Midwestern and Mountain West states scored particularly well on community-centric metrics. After D.C., North and South Dakota, Wyoming and Utah had the highest rates of organizational membership, while older adults in Minnesota, Utah, Wyoming and Montana were some of the most likely to discuss social issues with their family and friends.

Bottom States

The bottom-ranked states have a lot in common, too. Mississippi came in last due to its low rates of political donations (7.3%), organizational membership (22%) and collective action (33.2%). While about 3 in 4 older adults keep up with the news on a regular basis, it’s still a lower level than in other states.

Also in the bottom five are Alabama, New Jersey, Arkansas and Wisconsin. They all had among the lowest voter turnout in the U.S., and older people in these states are generally less likely to discuss social issues, take collective action, make political contributions or join organizations. Nowhere were older adults less likely to get in touch with their public officials than in New Jersey (7.2%).

Seniors in Swing States

According to the Cook Political Report, there are six battleground states this year: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. That means it’s a toss-up on how those combined 77 electoral votes will fall to the Trump or Harris campaigns.

These states also have wide variation in terms of how politically active their older populations are, ranging from Arizona (No. 15 overall), to Wisconsin (No. 47 overall).

Battle of the Ages

America’s older adults are more politically engaged than younger people – on nearly every measure. Ironically, while adults aged 55+ are much more likely to follow the news about social issues on a regular basis, younger people are slightly more likely to talk about those issues with family and friends.

The biggest gap between older and younger cohorts can be found in voter turnout data, with adults 55+ being nearly 15 percentage points more likely to vote in the last local election than those under 55. They are also much more likely to donate to political causes (11.6 points) and to belong to an organization (8.2 points).

By the Metrics

Just like politics itself, there is a great deal of variation among our ranking metrics within each state. Check out the top and bottom states for each of the seven metrics.

Conclusion

Overall, America’s seniors participate in the political system in various ways, with strong community networks clearly playing a role. A high level of political and civic engagement is critical to ensure that older adults’ interests are represented in policy decisions at the national and local levels, particularly on issues that directly affect their quality of life.

Engagement can come with some surprising benefits: Research shows that participating in civic life can make seniors happier and healthier by expanding their social circles, improving their mental health and affecting their overall well-being.

Methodology

We used the most recent federal data for seven metrics to determine which states’ older populations are the most politically engaged. The data was compiled from AmeriCorps’ 2021 Current Population Survey Civic Engagement and Volunteering Supplement.

We looked at the share of adults ages 55 or older who said they participate in civic and political life in various ways. In the AmeriCorps survey, the median sample size of older adults was 373 per state, but it ranged from 179 in Alaska to 1,546 in California. Because this data is self-reported, it might not line up perfectly with other sources. The full dataset is available for download here.

We then used a Z-score distribution to scale each metric relative to the category mean across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and capped outliers at +/-2. A state’s overall ranking was calculated using its average Z-score across the seven metrics, meaning each metric counted equally toward the overall ranking.

Here’s a closer look at the data we used (the share of adults ages 55 or older who…):

• Voted in last local election
• Have contacted public officials
• Have donated to a political cause
• Belong to an organization
• Have taken collective action with neighbors
• Discuss social issues with friends and family at least once per month
• Follow social issues in the news at least a few times per month