We hypothesized that aging is associated with alterations in pharyngeal muscle structural and contractile properties. Sternohyoid and geniohyoid muscles from young (3-4 months) and old (20-21 months) Fischer 344 rats were compared with diaphragm muscle. The pharyngeal muscles had significantly lower proportions of slow oxidative (SO) fibers compared to the diaphragm, and the percentage of fast glycolytic (FG) fibers was significantly higher in the sternohyoid than in both the geniohyoid and the diaphragm. With senescence, there was a small but significant increase in the proportion of FG fibers and a corresponding reduction in the proportion of fast oxidative glycolytic (FOG) fibers in all three muscles. The sternohyoid muscle had significantly faster isometric contractile kinetics and lower fatigue indexes than the diaphragm. Aging was associated with significant worsening of sternohyoid endurance, but no significant alterations in sternohyoid twitch kinetics or diaphragm properties. These results indicate that in rats the pharyngeal dilator muscles have larger proportions of fast fibers, fast contractile kinetics and worse endurance than the diaphragm. Furthermore, aging was associated with a shift to a higher proportion of FG fibers with a concomitant reduction in proportion of FOG fibers, as well as a decline in pharyngeal muscle endurance.