The country is growing continuously older in the last two decades according to the United States Census Bureau. The data shows the “point at which one-half the population is older and one-half younger—has increased by 3.4 years,” bringing it to 38.8 years.

 

Median age for most states also increased from 2020 to 2021, indicating their populations are getting older overall.

 

In Natrona County, 76.6% (60,437) of the population is aged 18 and over, 24.4% (19,518) is under the age of 18.

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An Aging Nation - Change in Median Age by County: July 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021[Source: U.S. Census Bureau]

 

An Aging Nation Median Age by County: July 1, 2021[Source: U.S. Census Bureau]

Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Census Bureau’s Population Division said, “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.”

 

The data suggest Utah remains the youngest state in the nation with a median age of 31.8.

 

Only one state’s population—Maine—became younger; its median age decreased from 44.8 in 2020 to 44.7 in 2021. Despite the decrease, Maine remains the state with the oldest median age in the nation.

The data reflects 47 states experienced an increase in median age from 2020 to 2021, including Wyoming. Montana, New Hampshire, and West Virginia were the only states that had no change in the median age.

 

Regionally, the Northeast was the oldest in 2021 with a median age of 40.4, followed by the Midwest (39.0), the South (38.6) and the West – which experienced the largest increase, 0.3 years to 37.7.

 

According to the World Health Organization, most people today can expect to live into their sixties and beyond. "Every country in the world is experiencing growth in both the size and the proportion of older persons in the population."

 

"By 2030, 1 in 6 people in the world will be aged 60 years or over. At this time the share of the population aged 60 years and over will increase from 1 billion in 2020 to 1.4 billion. By 2050, the world’s population of people aged 60 years and older will double (2.1 billion). The number of persons aged 80 years or older is expected to triple between 2020 and 2050 to reach 426 million" (WHO).

 

 

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