America Is Less White, Getting Older, and More Urban: Census

(Bloomberg) -- The nation’s over/under age demarcation line rose to 38.0 years, according to 2017 estimates released today from the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2000, the median age was 37.2 years.

"Baby boomers, and millennials alike, are responsible for this trend in increased aging,” said Molly Cromwell, a demographer at the U.S. Census Bureau. “Boomers continue to age and are slowly outnumbering children as the birth rate has declined steadily over the last decade.”

By 2035, Americans age 65 and older are forecast to outnumber kids for the first time.

To see a graphic of population shifts by age since 2010, click HERE

While the majority of counties in the U.S. continued to grow older, about half of the counties getting younger were in the Midwest. “Williams County, N.D., had the largest decrease in median age, declining by 7.1 years,” Cromwell said.

Increasing, the nation’s population is living in metropolitan areas.

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona gained one spot to move ahead of San Francisco as the 11th largest metro area. In the buckeye state, Columbus moved ahead of Cleveland.

New York led all states in domestic migration as over million people have left the state since April 1, 2010. From July, 1 2016 to July 1, 2017, 190,508 people left New York and 138,195 left California. But, California was net positive as 164,867 international migrants moved to the state. Net migration was negative in 14 states plus Puerto Rico last year.

The populations in eight states plus Puerto Rico shrank in size last year.

Diversity Trends

America is becoming more diverse by race and ethnicity. Non-Hispanic whites are shrinking in population, while all other race and ethnic groups grew between July 1, 2016, and July 1, 2017.

• Non-Hispanic white alone population decreased .02 percent to 197.8 million.
  • The non-Hispanic white alone population is projected to continue aging and decline in terms of size.
• The Hispanic population increased 2.1 percent to 58.9 million, and made up 18.1 percent of the nation’s total population in 2017. The gain was primarily due to natural increases (the difference between births and deaths), not net migration.
  • California had the largest Hispanic population at 15.5 million
• More blacks or African-American moved to Clark County, Nevada, the county holding Las Vegas, than to any other county (14,000).
  • The black or African-American population increased 1.2 percent to 47.4 million.
• The Asian population, the fastest-growing racial group in the nation, increased 3.1 percent to 22.2 million. Their increase is primarily due to net migration.
  • In Hawaii, Asian’s represented a majority of the population

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Tanzi in Washington at atanzi@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Wei Lu at wlu30@bloomberg.net

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