As Baby Boomers age, we are seeing an incredible growth in the number of people in a given age group at any one time. In fact, there are now more Americans that are at least 65 years of age than at any other time in our nation’s history. This can have a number of impacts on society and is also a marker for things to come. In addition to having a greater number of members in the workforce, senior citizens can also help project the increased longevity of our country moving forward.
According to a new census bureau report, there were over five million more people age 65 and older living in the United States in 2010 than in 2000. This also represents an increase of over 37 million people than in 1900. As we know, advances in medicine, technology and our species’ ability to adapt to changing conditions have contributed to our increased life span. In order to get a full understanding of the senior citizen demographic in the U.S., you can take a look at some of the statistics from the census report.
- Senior citizens make up 13 percent of the populations while those age 64 and under comprise 87 percent.
- As we get older, females significantly outnumber males in our population.
- The largest percentage of elderly people live in the Northeast, while the elderly population is growing the fastest in the West.
- More than 10,000 Americans turn 65 each day, and the segment of our population over the age of 65 is expected to grow to 88.5 million by 2050.
