Comparative Analysis of Age Structure in California - Assignment Example

Comparative Analysis of Age Structure in California al Affiliation Comparative Analysis of Age Structure in California Introduction The United States Census Bureau provides authoritative information on pertinent geographic and demographic information in the country across different time frames. The site of one of the most reliable sources of information, especially in terms of determining the population of a state, county, or city. The current discourse hereby aims to present a comparative analysis of age structure in California (state), San Francisco (county), and Pleasant Hill (city).

The state of California was selected for the reason that I studied there before. The information available according to age ranges include those segment of the population under 5 years, under 18, and persons 65 years and over. It could be noted that the segment within the 18 to 65 years of age could be deduced from the percentages that were provided. Comparative Analysis of Age Structure The following bar graph represents age structure in San Francisco, in Pleasant Hill, and in California: From the bar graph, it could be deduced that the persons over the four (4) distinct age ranges within the three (3) geographical areas exhibit diverse trends and patterns.

The percentages for persons under 5 were the least for all geographic areas, with the least percentage at 4.4% being exhibited in San Francisco. The information on the percentages of the population was collected for the year 2010 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). The greatest segment of the population is that which is within the 18 to 65 years of age for all geographic locations, with the greatest population exhibited in San Francisco at 73%. Moreover, in the age structure of persons under 18, the state of California, in general, exhibited the greatest percentage at 25%, followed by Pleasant Hill at 19.8%. One could surmise that the differences in diverge of population of persons within the age range of 18 to 65 years old in the city of San Francisco is the employment opportunities that abound in the area, when compared to opportunities for employment in Pleasant Hill.

The age range of 18 to 65 signifies the need for the segment to earn a living to be able to support themselves and their family members. Concurrently, for the age range of persons 65 and over, the chart shows that the percentages in San Francisco and in Pleasant Hill are almost the same at 13.6% and 13.9%, respectively. The reason one could think of is that people migrate to other states at the onset of retirement, or could have died. As such, the percentages of the population within this age group is relatively small.

However, when compared to the state percentage, it was evident that the percentages were significantly larger at more than 13% compared to only 11.4% in California, as a whole. Finally, as for the percentages within persons under five age ranges, since majority of the population within these geographic areas are busy earning a living, only a few could have planned to start a family and raise small children. As shown from the chart, this segment of the population exhibited the least percentages among the other age structures.

Reference U.S. Census Bureau. (2010). QuickFacts Beta. Retrieved from census.gov: http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/POP010210/0667000,06,0657764