A new report from the Census Bureau indicates older adults now outnumber children in 11 states and almost half of the counties in the United States.
The census data shows that the U.S. population continues to age, with the share of the 65-year-plus group steadily increasing from 12.4 percent in 2004 to 18 percent in 2024, while the share of the under-18 population has decreased from 25 percent to 21.5 percent during the same period.
In 2024, the population aged 65 and older increased by 3.1 percent, to 61.2 million, from 2023, while those under the age of 18 decreased by 0.2 percent, to 73.1 million, during the same time frame.
“Children still outnumber older adults in the United States, despite a decline in births this decade,” Lauren Bowers, chief of the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Branch, said in the report….