The median age in the United States reached a record high of 38.9 in 2022, according to according to Vintage 2022 Population Estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
While that’s still much younger than the median age in Europe of 44, it continues a steady rise in the median age—which is the age at which half of the population is older and half of the population is younger. In 2000, the median age in the U.S. was 35, and is was only 30 in 1980.
Also notable, “Peak 65”—the point in time when more Americans will turn age 65 than at any point in history—will occur in 2024.
“As the nation’s median age creeps closer to 40, you can really see how the aging of Baby Boomers, and now their children—sometimes called Echo Boomers—is impacting the median age. The eldest of the Echo Boomers have started to reach or exceed the nation’s median age of 38.9,” said Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Census Bureau’s Population Division. “While natural change nationally has been positive, as there have been more births than deaths, birth rates have gradually declined over the past two decades. Without a rapidly growing young population, the U.S. median age will likely continue its slow but steady rise.”
A third (17) of the states in the country had a median age above 40.0 in 2022, led by Maine with the highest at 44.8, and New Hampshire at 43.3. On the other end of the spectrum, Utah (31.9), the District of Columbia (34.8), and Texas (35.5) had the lowest median ages in the nation. Hawaii had the largest increase in median age among states, up 0.4 years to 40.7.
No states experienced a decrease in median age. Four states—Alabama (39.4), Maine (44.8), Tennessee (39.1), West Virginia (42.8), and the District of Columbia (34.8)—had no change in their median age from 2021 to 2022.
Among counties with populations of 100,000 or more, several of the oldest counties were in Florida. Sumter County (68.1), home to large retirement community The Villages, has perennially been the nation’s oldest county. Neighboring Citrus County, although younger, still had a median age (57) well above that of the nation. Similarly, Sarasota County (57.5) and Charlotte County (60.2), both coastal Florida counties, had median ages near or over 60.
Seven counties among those with resident populations of at least 100,000 had a median age below 30.0—Utah (25.7) and Cache (25.8) counties in Utah; Onslow County, North Carolina (27.6); Tippecanoe County, Indiana (28.8); Clarke County, Georgia (29.1); and Brazos (26.7) and Webb (29.8) counties in Texas. Many of these counties are home to large universities, which explains their lower median ages.
The New York Times pointed out that as the nation ages, it is also becoming more diverse. Between 2021 and 2022, the nation’s Asian population grew by 2.4%; the Hispanic population by 1.7%; the Black population by 0.9%.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office projects that over the 2023–2053 period, 73 million people, on average, will be age 65 or older, and thus generally eligible for Social Security and Medicare and less likely to work. That number is about twice the average number of people in that group from 1983 to 2022.
An April 2023 report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes the share of the population that is aged 65 or older will climb steeply over the next 15 years, from about 1 in 6 people in the U.S. to 1 in 5, and then inch up thereafter.
“Social Security costs as a percentage of GDP will rise slightly less than that due to already enacted increases in the age for full retirement benefits (previously 65, then 66, and now 67), which dampen the rise in benefit costs. These facts reinforce the point that Social Security’s fundamental challenge is demographic, traceable to a rising number of beneficiaries rather than to escalating costs per beneficiary,” the report states.
2034 is the “headline date” in the 2023 Social Security Trustees’ Report, because that is when the combined Social Security trust fund reserves—the excess contributions it has collected and invested in Treasury bonds over the past three decades—will be depleted. At that point, if nothing else is done by lawmakers, the program could only pay about 80% of scheduled benefits.
SEE ALSO:
• 7 Demographic Disparities Impacting Retirement Readiness
• 10 Best and Worst States to Retire 2023: WalletHub
• 3 Takeaways from Forbes ‘Best Places to Retire in 2022’
• Disney Retirement Community Taking Shape in California
• 7 in 10 Americans Suspect They Won’t Receive Social Security Benefits
Veteran financial services industry journalist Brian Anderson joined 401(k) Specialist as Managing Editor in January 2019. He has led editorial content for a variety of well-known properties including Insurance Forums, Life Insurance Selling, National Underwriter Life & Health, and Senior Market Advisor. He has always maintained a focus on providing readers with timely, useful information intended to help them build their business.
