The U.S. population age 65 and older rose by 3.1% to 61.2 million while the population under age 18 decreased by 0.2% to 73.1 million from 2023 to 2024, according to the new Vintage 2024 Population Estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The data show the population continued to age, with the share of the population age 65 and older steadily increasing from 12.4% in 2004 to 18.0% in 2024, and the share of children declining from 25.0% to 21.5%.

Ongoing growth among the older population, coupled with persistent annual declines in the population under age 18 has reduced the size difference between these two age groups from just over 20 million in 2020 to just below 12 million in 2024. 

From 2020 to 2024, the older population grew by 13.0%, significantly outpacing the 1.4% growth of working-age adults (ages 18 to 64), while the number of children declined by 1.7%.

"Children still outnumber older adults in the United States, despite a decline in births this decade,” said Lauren Bowers, chief of the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Branch. "However, the gap is narrowing as baby boomers continue to age into their retirement years. In fact, the number of states and counties where older adults outnumber children is on the rise, especially in sparsely populated areas.”

As recently as 2020, there were just three states where older adults outnumbered children: Maine, Vermont, and Florida. By 2024, this number had increased to 11, with Delaware, Hawaii, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia joining their ranks.

Similarly, from 2020 to 2024, the number of U.S. metro areas with more older adults than children increased from 58 to 112. This represents nearly 30% of the nation’s 387 metro areas. Additionally, in 2024, three metro areas with at least 1 million people (Cleveland, OH; Providence-Warwick, RI-MA; and Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT) had more older people than younger people for the first time. 

In 2020, 31.3% (or 983) of the nation’s 3,144 counties had more older adults than children. This figure increased to almost 45% (1,411 counties) in 2024. In both years, most of these counties had small populations and were located outside of metro and micro areas.

Other highlights

Age and sex:

• In 2024, the U.S. median age reached a new record high of 39.1, up 0.1 years from 2023, and up 0.6 years from 38.5 in 2020.
• Regionally, the West (38.4) and South (38.8) had the lowest median ages in 2024; the Northeast had the highest (40.6), followed by the Midwest (39.3). 
Maine’s population in 2024 was the oldest, with a median age of 44.8; Utah’s was the youngest (32.4).
• The median age across all counties in 2024 ranged between 20.9 and 68.1; 74% (2,340 of 3,144) had a median age at or above the median age for the nation.
• Women outnumbered men by 3.4 million, making up 50.5% of the U.S. population in 2024.

Race and Hispanic origin:

• Between 2023 and 2024, the Asian population grew the fastest (4.2%), followed by the Hispanic or Latino population (2.9%).
• From 2023 to 2024, the Hispanic or Latino population increased by 1.9 million; this gain was larger than the change for all other race and ethnicity groups combined.
• The White population was the only population that dropped, declining 0.1% between 2023 and 2024.
• While the Hispanic or Latino share of the U.S. total population reached 20% for the first time in 2024, only nine states and 457 counties were at least 20% Hispanic.
• The Asian population experienced its largest gains in California, followed by Texas; however, Texas’ annual growth rate (6.9%) was substantially faster than California’s (2.7%).