By Mark Waite

Many local people have listened to complaints about the slow, elderly driver putt-putting along at 30 mph in a 45 mph zone, or heard the jokes about Pahrump being referred to as “God’s waiting room.”

Now there are statistics to back up the feeling that the Pahrump population has a big touch of gray.

The U.S. Census Bureau released demographic information from the 2010 census last week, which showed the median age in Pahrump was 49.7 years, considerably older than the state’s median age of 36.3 years.

The age gap increased from the 2000 census when the median age in Pahrump was 45.1 years, still 10 years older than the state or the nation.

The 2010 census showed 30.9 percent of the Pahrump population was 62 years or over, twice the state percentage.

Nine percent of the population alone is between 65 and 69 years old, 8.7 percent is in the range of 60- to 64-year-olds.

“Some magazine from New York was calling us about those very statistics. We’re one of the top 10 oldest in the nation is what this magazine was saying,” Pahrump Town Manager Bill Kohbarger said Wednesday.

“The seniors are huge. They always come out to vote. So if you get the senior vote, you pretty much win,” he said.

Kohbarger noted three of his town board members are retired: Vicky Parker, Carolene Endersby and Tom Waters.

Pahrump Senior Center Director Jim Gronemann said they send out more than 500 Shades of Gray newsletters.

When the snowbirds are in town, the senior center serves 100 to 125 people for lunch; this time of year there’s still 80 to 100 people every day, he said. The Meals on Wheels program serves another 80 clients, Gronemann said.

Nye County School Superintendent Rob Roberts said seniors help out by volunteering.

“We have thousands of volunteer hours as a result of having a population that doesn’t necessarily have to go to work every day and can spend some time,” Roberts said.

The disadvantage is there are fewer younger families with students to educate, which generates more money for the cost of the physical operations to run the facilities, he said.

“The older population you don’t necessarily have as many children. One of the statistics we have in Pahrump, we have a number of grandparents who are raising their children. That’s a third leg of the stool in that regard,” Roberts said.

Despite the older population, Nye County voters in November 2006, by a 55-44 percent ratio, approved extending the school bond tax rate of 58.5 cents per $100 of valuation for another 10 years to fund school construction.

State Demographer Jeff Hardcastle said a good chunk of the senior population is due to migration into Pahrump.

In the 2000 census, the population of Pahrump residents between 50 and 54 years old was 1,698; in 2010, the population of residents 60 to 64 years old is 3,184, he said.

“The thing that jumped out at me were the 35 to 39 age cohort. That looks where there’s actually been a net loss of people in that age group. Where back in 2000 it was 1,678, now that age group was 1,637,” Hardcastle said. “So you’ve got a couple things that are driving up that median age. You’ve had an in-migration of seniors, but you’ve also had some loss in the underage cohorts.”

Hardcastle said part of that loss of younger residents could be due to the economy and the loss of jobs in the area. The unemployment rate was more than 14 percent in Pahrump.

Services like Meals on Wheels and medical care will be more in demand as the population ages, he said.

Some retirees too will leave Pahrump as they get older, Hardcastle said. Some will experience health problems and want to be closer to support networks like family and friends living elsewhere, he said.

“We are a very attractive community for the retirees,” said Al Balloqui, the town’s economic development director. He cited the lack of a state income tax and the inexpensive cost of real estate as attraction for older folks.

But Balloqui said it’s preferable to have a more diversified age base than a gentrified one that will need more services than they contribute.

“We’ve been working on several different projects for retirees and senior citizens,” Dave Richards, a planner for CivilWise Services said. “We have one client that is basically trying to gear all his projects toward a retirement community.”

Dermatologist Dr. Jeffrey Gunther had proposed large retirement communities in Pahrump. He now has approval for a 160-unit, mobile home project on Wilson Road that includes a new Pahrump Senior Center.

Local entertainment venues have realized the impact of the senior population.

“I would have to say our average golfer has got to be somewhere around 62. Most of the golf members are probably 62 to 70,” said Neil Pierce, the head golf pro at Mountain Falls Golf Course.

A lot of members get the most out of their annual dues with lots of rounds of golf, he said. “It makes sense dollar wise to buy a membership and play three, four times a week.”

“The figures don’t surprise us. I think that’s exactly the demographic that we’re seeing in the casino. It’s a demographic that we cater to and we built our business around,” Pahrump Nugget Hotel and Casino General Manager Jeremy Jenson said.

There are concessions made to the older population, live music in the casino shuts off at 10 p.m. Later entertainment doesn’t suit their clientele, Jenson said. Bowling leagues are popular with retirees, he said.

The demographics could bring different businesses to Pahrump. Jim Oscarson, marketing director for Desert View Hospital, sees the recent growth in medical services.

“You’re seeing certainly increased interest in this community from other physician groups. You’re looking at Canyon Gate that’s out here now that’s constantly expanding their practice. You’re looking at Health Care Partners that has a big investment and a big step in expanding services here. You have Senior Dimensions that’s building their new building here,” he said.

Jay Heiseler, director of marketing for Integrity Home Health Care, said his Las Vegas based company, which employs licensed nurses, physical therapists, speech therapists and other skilled workers to treat patients at home, located a branch on Postal Road in Pahrump last November.

“When we researched the office, looking at the demographics, the median age, the retirement age, that certainly tells us there’s a need for our type of service in that area. The older people get, the more they have problems. They have knee problems, they have pneumonia, they have a stroke,” Heiseler said. “We felt there could be better services.”

So what about maneuvering around those older drivers anyway?

Brian Strain, an insurance agent with State Farm, said the most favorable age bracket of drivers, and thus the lowest risk to insurance companies, are those drivers up to age 74. After that the accident rates start to climb and insurance premiums for those drivers goes up.

“Between the ages of 30 and 74 is the best group for age. Excluding all other factors, that’s the best age group because you’ve got the experience but you’re still youthful enough,” he said.

Strain did say the older residents however have less disposable income to spend on things like life insurance.

Kohbarger concurred many seniors don’t have much money to spend as they live on fixed incomes, from Social Security paycheck to Social Security paycheck.