Baby Boomers Keep on Truckin'

Although the country’s most famous generation is aging, they are showing no signs of slowing down, according to consumer research firm Scarborough. Baby boomers, who make up 35 percent of the U.S. adult population, are living up to their revolutionary legacy, showing the nation that their heyday is far from over by taking pleasure in life's adventures.

In the past 12 months, baby boomers have attended a professional sporting event (36 percent), attended live theater (22 percent), visited an art museum (14 percent), attended a rock concert (12 percent) and gone to the symphony or opera (9 percent). The group is also 11 percent more likely than all American adults to have eaten at a seafood restaurant or steakhouse in the past 30 days.

Baby boomers are also 9 percent more likely than all U.S. adults to have traveled domestically for business or vacation purposes in the past year and 3 percent more likely to have engaged in foreign travel for business or vacation purposes in the past three years. Nine percent of baby boomers have visited Europe in the past three years and 12 percent vacationed in the Caribbean in the same time frame. Their enthusiasm for travel also keeps them feeling lucky – 9 percent of baby boomers have visited Las Vegas in the past year and 34 percent visited any casino in the same time frame.

Baby boomers are also spending money to make their home lives more entertaining as well. Nearly half (45 percent) of baby boomers live in a household with a digital video recorder and 30 percent live in a household with a video game system. Baby boomers are 21 percent more likely than all American adults to live in a household with a pool, hot tub or spa and 7 percent of baby boomers live in a household with a motorcycle. Baby boomers also take great pride in the appearance of their homes as 27 percent have had landscaping done in the past year and they are 21 percent more likely than all American adults to have spent $10,000 or more on home improvements in the past year.

Baby boomers can be found reading national news (28 percent), making travel reservations (23 percent) and gaining medical services and information online (14 percent). On the radio, baby boomers listen to Adult Contemporary (30 percent), News and Talk (28 percent), and Classic Hits (25 percent). The kinds of television shows boomers typically watch are Movies (57 percent), Local Evening News (53 percent), Comedies (47 percent), and Local Morning News (44 percent).

Baby boomers are 22 percent more likely than all American adults to be employed full-time and are 32 percent more likely to own a home valued at $500,000 or more. They are 23 percent more likely than all American adults to have an annual household income of $100,000 or more and are 9 percent more likely to hold at least a college degree.

The biggest spenders of the baby boom generation are the High-Earning Baby Boomers (HEBBs), defined by Scarborough as baby boomers who live in households that have an annual income of $100,000 or more. HEBBs account for 9 percent of the American adult population and are more than twice as likely as all American adults to own a second home or other real estate property for investment.

They were nearly two and a half times more likely than all Americans to have spent $10,000 or more in the past year on remodeling their homes. HEBBs live in households that are 82 percent more likely than all American households to have a 401K plan, and more than twice as likely to have a college savings plan.

HEBBs can be found in large cities where earning potential is reportedly higher. Among the top local markets for HEBBs are: Washington, D.C. (18 percent of all adults); San Francisco (16 percent); New York (14 percent) and Boston (14 percent).