SARASOTA, Fla. – New Census data shows that Sarasota and Charlotte counties have the most percentage of residents 85 or older in Florida.
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune says that age group is also the fastest-growing in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties.
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The population group now makes up more than 5 percent of Sarasota County's population for the first time.
It outnumbers children under the age of 5 by nearly 5,000 -- the biggest gap in the state.
In all but five Florida counties, the under-5 age group outnumbers the older group.
But statewide, the 85-and-older group was the fastest-growing from 2010 to 2011.
Experts say that while those in that older age group bring great wealth to Florida as they migrate from other states, they also are straining the state's long-term care system, funded largely by Medicaid.