{"id":420050,"date":"2026-07-31T22:29:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T22:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/420050\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T22:29:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T22:29:09","slug":"americas-population-is-aging-but-some-states-like-california-skew-younger-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/420050\/","title":{"rendered":"America\u2019s population is aging, but some states \u2014 like California \u2014 skew younger \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

America\u2019s population is aging, but the trend looks very different from one state to the next.<\/p>\n

The number of Americans ages 65 and older is projected to increase from 58 million in 2022 to 82 million by 2050 (a 42% increase), and the 65-and-older age group\u2019s share of the total population is projected to rise from 17% to 23%.<\/p>\n

The current growth of the population ages 65 and older, driven by the large baby boom generation\u2014those born between 1946 and 1964\u2014is unprecedented in U.S. history.<\/p>\n

From 2004 to 2024, the age 65-and-over population increased in size while the child population decreased.<\/p>\n

Older adults outnumber children in nearly half of U.S. counties in 2024.<\/p>\n

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This aging of the U.S. population has brought both challenges and opportunities to the economy, infrastructure and institutions.<\/p>\n

Social Security and Medicare expenditures will increase from a combined 9.1% of gross domestic product in 2023 to 11.5% by 2035 because of the large share of older adults.<\/p>\n

The U.S. population is older today than it has ever been. Between 1980 and 2022, the median age of the population increased from 30.0 to 38.9, but one-third of states in the country had a median age above 40 in 2022, with Maine (44.8) and New Hampshire (43.3) at the top of the list.<\/p>\n

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The older population is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse. Between 2022 and 2050 the share of the older population that identifies as non-Hispanic white is projected to drop from 75% to 60%.<\/p>\n

Older adults are working longer. By 2022, 24% of men and about 15% of women ages 65 and older were in the labor force. These levels are projected to rise further by 2032, to 25% for men and 17% for women.<\/p>\n

The poverty rate for Americans ages 65 and older has dropped sharply during the past 50 years, from nearly 30% in 1966 to 10% today. The Census Bureau\u2019s Supplemental Poverty Measure, which accounts for non-cash benefits, tax credits and medical expenses, shows that 14% of older Americans lived in poverty in 2022.<\/p>\n

State share of population<\/p>\n

State | % aged 65+ | Total<\/p>\n

Maine | 23.5% | 330,000
\nVermont | 22.9% | 148,000
\nWest Virginia | 21.9% | 387,000
\nFlorida | 21.8% | 5.1 million
\nDelaware | 21.7% | 228,000
\nHawaii | 21.5% | 311,000
\nNew Hampshire | 21.5% | 303,000
\nMontana | 21.2% | 241,000
\nPennsylvania | 20.4% | 2.7 million
\nNew Mexico | 20.1% | 429,000
\nWyoming | 20.0% | 117,000
\nOregon | 19.9% | 850,000
\nSouth Carolina | 19.8% | 1.1 million
\nRhode Island | 19.8% | 220,000
\nArizona | 19.7% | 1.5 million
\nMichigan | 19.6% | 2 million
\nWisconsin | 19.6% | 1.2 million
\nConnecticut | 19.4% | 713,000
\nOhio | 19.1% | 2.3 million
\nSouth Dakota | 19.0% | 176,000
\nNew York | 18.9% | 3.8 million
\nIowa | 18.9% | 613,000
\nMassachusetts | 18.7% | 1.3 million
\nMissouri | 18.7% | 1.2 million
\nAlabama | 18.5% | 955,000
\nMinnesota | 18.2% | 1.1 million
\nArkansas | 18.2% | 563,000
\nMississippi | 18.1% | 531,000
\nNew Jersey | 18.0% | 1.7 million
\nKentucky | 18.0% | 826,000
\nKansas | 18.0% | 534,000
\nIllinois | 17.9% | 2.3 million
\nNorth Carolina | 17.9% | 2.0 million
\nLouisiana | 17.8% | 820,000
\nIdaho | 17.8% | 356,000
\nVirginia | 17.6% | 1.6 million
\nTennessee | 17.6% | 1.3 million
\nIndiana | 17.6% | 1.2 million
\nMaryland | 17.6% | 1.1 million
\nNevada | 17.6% | 575,000
\nNorth Dakota | 17.6% | 140,000
\nNebraska | 17.4% | 348,000
\nWashington | 17.3% | 1.4 million
\nOklahoma | 16.9% | 692,000
\nCalifornia | 16.5% | 6.5 million
\nColorado | 16.5% | 980,000
\nGeorgia | 15.8% | 1.8 million
\nAlaska | 14.8% | 109,000
\nTexas | 14.0% | 4.4 million
\nDC | 12.9% | 91,000
\nUtah | 12.4% | 435,000<\/p>\n

U.S. Average | 17.7% | 61.2 million<\/p>\n

Sources: U.S. Census, PRB analysis,U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"America\u2019s population is aging, but the trend looks very different from one state to the next. The number…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,36729,6276,100,65645,136],"class_list":["post-420050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-demographics","tag-infographic","tag-news","tag-senior-citizens","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}