05/15/2025

New National Dashboard Tracks Aging Readiness Across States

West Health, in partnership with a steering committee of federal and state officials, has launched a National Aging Readiness Dashboard to help policymakers, researchers, and advocates better understand how well the U.S. is prepared to meet the needs of an aging population.

The interactive tool compiles publicly available data from key federal sources—such as the American Community Survey (ACS) and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)—and allows users to view aging-related indicators at both the national and state level. The dashboard offers a comprehensive look at a wide range of factors affecting older adults, including:

• Demographics: Age, race/ethnicity, household composition, and disability status
  
  
• Economic Security: Income sources and financial stressors among older adults
  
  
• Healthcare Access: Insurance coverage, care access, internet access, and discrimination experiences
  
  
• Health Status: Chronic conditions and overall health measures
  
  
• Healthcare Costs: Total spending, per capita Medicare costs, and out-of-pocket expenses
  
  
• Mental Health: Life satisfaction, social isolation, stress, and depression
  
  
• Caregiving: Trends in both paid and unpaid caregiving
  
  
• Dementia: Cognitive decline, caregiving, and dementia-related mortality
  
  
• Housing and Homelessness: Affordable housing availability and homelessness among older adults
  
  
• Transportation: Access to private and public transportation and the impact of unreliable transit options
  
  

The dashboard is designed to identify disparities, track trends over time, and support evidence-based policy and program development.

If you're interested in a deeper dive into the data, the dashboard includes an Explore the Data feature that allows for customizable views of indicators by geography and year.

Explore the dashboard here.   Access Ohio-specific data here.