Planning to Retire

The 10 Most Common Jobs for Older Workers

June 4, 2008 RSS Feed Print

The stereotype of the senior citizen working at Borders and Home Depot appears to be true. Retail jobs are the most common occupation for workers 65 or older, according to an Urban Institute analysis to be released later this month.

Almost 7 percent of people still working past age 65 are employed as retail sales persons or their supervisors, the Urban Institute calculated. Among the workforce as a whole, only about 5 percent of people work in retail.

"It's still the case that the most common occupation is somewhat mundane like cashiers, janitors, and secretaries," says Richard Johnson, a principal research associate at the Urban Institute and author of the study. "It's still a minority of the jobs that are exciting new careers."

Here are the jobs most common among seniors, according to the study.

Jobs With the Most Employees Ages 65 and Older
	Occupation	Total 65-and-Older Workers	Share of Workers 65 and Older in the Occupation
1.	Retail salesperson	181,559	3.5%
2.	Farmers and ranchers	177,383	3.4
3.	First-line supervisors/managers of retail salespeople	164,507	3.2
4.	Janitors and building cleaners	146,364	2.8
5.	Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	139,902	2.7
6.	Secretaries and administrative assistants	139,829	2.7
7.	Cashiers	110,508	2.1
8.	Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks	108,798	2.1
9.	Real estate brokers and sales agents	92,465	1.8
10.	Chief executives	89,720	1.7

Source: Urban Institute calculations, 2008

Jobs With the Highest Percentage of Employees Ages 65 and Older
	Occupation	Share of Workers in Occupation Who Are 65 and Older
1.	Funeral service workers	31.4%
2.	Crossing guards	27.7
3.	Farmers and ranchers	25.7
4.	Models, demonstrators, and product promoters	23.1
5.	Funeral directors	16.3
6.	Tax preparers	14.3
7.	Farm, ranch, and other agricultural managers	13.2
8.	Barbers	13.0
9.	Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners	11.6
10.	Clergy	11.4

Source: Urban Institute calculations, 2008

Tags:: careers,; retirement

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You TELL it Livin, Tx.! Funny, they talk about raising the retirement age, but then continue to push the agenda that, education beats common sense. Remember when something was broke? You fixed it. Today they reason, use logic, rationalize, and do the educated math. Look where we are. How's that working out for them? If I want to know about the twenties, I'd rather ask someone who was there, then some history teacher who only read about it. But science is the new "Creation", as though they know more because they can do math, or reason, or apply logic. Some things defy logic. But I guess mathematically, or scientifically, that wouldn't add up now would it? Education and intilligence are not always neccessarily relative are they? Oh yeah - times, they are a changin. geez.

Michael Watson of MO 4:22AM September 28, 2011

This article is from 2008. I agree with the top 10 jobs for seniors, but within a decade all those 40 year olds will be 50 and they will NOT go down without a fight. Today's 40 year olds will NOT lie down and die just because they hit the big 50. The future will have more age discrimination lawsuits that cannot be ignored like they are today. I would say tax preparers and funeral directors have the fastest entry into the job market. I've seen a few seniors as product marketers. I have not seen any tool grinders. Most ranchers and farmers are older. Their kids sell their land. I have not seen any seniors who work as crossing guards in my area. A really good job for seniors is owning a nursing assistant or other career school for adults. Tutoring is a good job for seniors. The hiring managers of today will find the shoe on the other foot in about 10 to 20 years. I'm willing to bet they won't go down without a fight. In 20 years we won't recognize our workforce...hope I live long enough to see my words come true.

livin of TX 11:46PM September 08, 2011

I fully agree with the comments made.I am now 67 and worked for the same company in sales for seven years. my contract was extended at 65. now though I am to old. I am still the same person I was six months ago ,with the same drive and want to continue working. for the last month of my contract ,I spent training a younger person for a job i still wanted and knew that I could do. Age is a frame of mind, it should not be a barrier for working. Experience is priceless.
PRESTON
ENGLAND

peter williams of 8:16AM August 22, 2011

The 10 Most Common Jobs for Older Workers

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