|
Nation’s
Median
Age
Highest
Ever,
But
65+
Population’s
Growth
Lags:
Census
2000
•click
here
to
Senior
Journal
Population
Graph
The
median
age
of
the
U.S.
population
in
2000
was
35.3
years,
the
highest
it
has
ever
been.
The
increase
in
the
median
age
reflects
the
aging
of
the
baby
boomers.
However,
the
65-and-over
population
actually
increased
at
a
slower
rate
than
the
overall
population
for
the
first
time
in
the
history
of
the
census.
Both
findings
are
from
a
Census
2000
profile,
highlighting
characteristics
of
the
U.S.
population,
released
today
by
the
Commerce
Department’s
Census
Bureau.
“While
the
median
age
increased
by
nearly
two
and
a
half
years
between
1990
and
2000,”
said
Campbell
Gibson,
a
senior
Census
Bureau
demographer,
“the
growth
of
the
population
aged
65-and-over
was
by
far
the
lowest
recorded
rate
of
growth
in
any
decade
for
this
age
group.”
The
median
age
(meaning
half
are
older
and
half
younger)
rose
from
32.9
years
in
1990
to
35.3
in
2000.
The
rise
reflects
a
4-percent
decline
in
numbers
among
18-
to
34-year-olds
and
a
28-percent
increase
in
35-
to
64-year-olds.
The
most
rapid
increase
in
size
of
any
age
group
in
the
profile
was
the
49
percent
jump
in
the
population
45-to-54-years-old.
This
increase,
to
37.7
million
in
2000,
was
fueled
mainly
by
the
entry
into
this
age
group
of
the
first
of
the
“baby
boom”
generation
(those
born
from
1946
to
1964).
“The
slower
growth
of
the
population
65
and
over,”
Gibson
said,
“reflects
the
relatively
low
number
of
people
reaching
65
during
the
past
decade
because
of
the
relatively
low
number
of
births
in
the
late
1920s
and
early
1930s.”
Besides
data
on
age,
the
U.S.
profile
contains
data
on
sex,
household
relationship
and
household
type,
housing
units,
and
renters
and
homeowners.
It
also
includes
the
first
population
totals
for
selected
groups
of
Asian,
Native
Hawaiian
and
Other
Pacific
Islander,
and
Hispanic
or
Latino
populations.
Other
highlights:
•
The
number
of
males
(138.1
million)
edged
closer
to
the
number
of
females
(143.4
million),
raising
the
sex
ratio
(males
per
100
females)
from
95.1
in
1990
to
96.3
in
2000.
•
The
nation’s
housing
units
numbered
115.9
million,
an
increase
of
13.6
million
from
1990.
•
The
average
household
size
in
2000
was
2.59,
down
slightly
from
2.63
in
1990.
•
Of
the
105.5
million
occupied
housing
units
in
2000,
69.8
million
were
occupied
by
owners
and
35.7
million
by
renters;
the
homeownership
rate
increased
from
64
percent
to
66
percent.
•
The
number
of
nonfamily
households
rose
at
twice
the
rate
of
family
households
-
23
percent
versus
11
percent.
•
Families
maintained
by
women
with
no
husband
present
increased
three
times
as
fast
as
married-couple
families
-
21
percent
versus
7
percent.
•
Married-couple
families
dropped
from
55
percent
to
52
percent
of
all
households.
The
national
snapshot,
entitled
Profile
of
General
Demographic
Characteristics:
2000,
is
the
first
of
more
than
40,000
one-page
profiles
for
states,
counties,
cities,
towns
and
townships,
as
well
as
tribal
areas,
Hawaiian
homelands
and
other
areas.
The
table
contains
nearly
100
data
items,
plus
percentage
distributions
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