City Manager Age Demographics

I was reading an article in the 2009 Edition of The Municipal Year Book (from the International City/County Management Association) and found this interesting passage:

Our organizations will need to fundamentally adapt as these newcomers enter the workforce and take on positions of leadership. This point is magnified by data from ICMA, as 71% of city and county executives were under the age of 40 in 1971, while only 13% were under 40 in 2006.

That is an incredible statistic, and I think it shows the near-term challenge that local governments across the nation face. Even though this is a tough time for everyone, I couldn’t be more excited about starting my career in local government.