2006 State Report > Housing > Living Arrangements
Housing: Living Arrangements
The majority of older South Carolinians live with one or more other people. Among the population aged 65 and older in 2004, 70.2 percent lived in family households, 28.2 percent lived alone, and the remaining 1.6 percent lived in non-family households.
The longer people live, the more likely they are to live alone rather than sharing a household with others. This can have negative consequences for the health of older adults who need assistance with activities of daily living or personal care. The 2000 Census provided a detailed breakdown of seniors living alone by age, showing that the likelihood of living alone increases with age.
- 27.0 percent of householders aged 60 to 64 lived alone in 2000.
- 35.1 percent of householders aged 65 to 74 lived alone.
- 49.6 percent of householders aged 75 to 84 lived alone.
- 63.9 percent of householders aged 85 and over lived alone.
Women aged 65 and older are more likely to live alone than men of the same age range. In 2004 in South Carolina, there were 29,907 men aged 65 and older living alone, compared with 108,002 women.
Women aged 65 and older who live alone also tend to have less income than their male counterparts. The median household income in 2004 for South Carolina women aged 65 and older who lived alone was $14,146, compared with $15,490 for men in the same age range who lived alone.