The often-talked-about silver wave is evident in the latest Census Bureau population estimates, released last week for the year 2021.
The past two decades have seen the country grow continuously older, according to the data. The bureau reported that since 2000, the national median age has increased by 3.4 years, with the largest single-year gain of 0.3 years coming in 2021, bringing it to 38.8 years. The median age for most states also increased from 2020 to 2021, indicating that their populations are getting older overall.
“With birth rates trending downwards and the aging of the Baby Boom and Generation X cohorts, the median age will likely continue to rise in the coming years,” said Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Census Bureau’s Population Division.
Regionally, the Northeast was the oldest in 2021, with a median age of 40.4. The Northeast was followed by the Midwest (39), the South (38.6) and the West. The West experienced the largest increase, 0.3 years, to a median age of 37.7.
At the state level
Utah remained the youngest state in the country, with the state’s median age increasing by 0.3 years, from 31.5 to 31.8. Washington, D.C., had the second-lowest median age but saw the largest increase, 0.5 years, with the median age going from 34.4 to 34.9.
Only one state, Maine, saw its population become slightly younger, with the median age decreasing from 44.8 in 2020 to 44.7 in 2021. The Census Bureau pointed out, however, that although the median age decreased in Maine, the state remained the one with the oldest median age in the country, after more than two decades of the population as a whole getting older each year.
During that same period, 47 states saw an increase in median age. Montana (40.1), New Hampshire (43.0) and West Virginia (42.8) were the only states that saw no change in median age.
At the county and city level
Meanwhile, according to the Census Bureau, the median age in 57% of all U.S. counties and county equivalents increased, and 74% of counties had higher median ages than the nation.
Six counties had median ages of at least 60 years:
- Sumter County, Florida (68.3);
- Kalawao County, Hawaii (65.5);
- Catron County, New Mexico (61.8);
- Harding County, New Mexico (60.3);
- Charlotte County, Florida (60.2) and
- Jeff Davis County, Texas (60).
The counties or county equivalents with the youngest median ages in the nation:
- Lexington City, Virginia (22.2);
- Todd County, South Dakota (23);
- Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska (23.7);
- Madison County, Idaho (23.7) and
- Radford City, Virginia (24.4).
The median age increased in approximately 76% of metropolitan statistical areas, which consist of one or more whole counties or county equivalents and at least one urban area with a population of 50,000 or more. The median age increased in 290 MSAs between 2020 and 2021.
The three largest increases occurred in Lake Charles, LA, where the median age rose from 36.5 to 37.4; Hilton Head Island-Bluffton, SC, which increased by 0.8 years to 47.8; and San Francisco–Oakland–Berkeley, CA, where the median age crossed the 40-years-of-age threshold, increasing from 39.4 to 40.1.
At 25.7 years, Provo-Orem, UT, was the MSA with the lowest median age in 2021. Conversely, The Villages, FL, had the highest median age, 68.3 years.
