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Baby Boomer Facts and Figures

Facts and figures about Americans born between 1946 and 1964) and other older adults.

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One in three Americans is now 50 or older — by 2030, one in five will be 65+.


50+ Demographics

  • There were 40.3 million people age 65 and older on April 1, 2010, an increase of 5.3 million since the 2000 census. The 65+ age group grew at a faster rate than the total U.S. population, increasing by 15.1 percent as compared to 9.7 percent for the total population.
    Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010

  • The number of people 65 and older in the United States is expected to increase to 55 million in 2020; to some 70 million by 2030, and to 88.5 million — or 20 percent of the population — in 2050. (Put yet another way, between 2006 and 2030, the U.S. population of adults aged 65+ will nearly double from 37 million to 71.5 million people.)
    Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010

  • Among the age groups within the older population, the 85-to-94-year olds experienced the fastest growth between 2000 and 2010, rising from 9.5 million to 12.4 million.
    Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010

  • The number of people age 85 and older will increase from about 14 percent of the older population today to 21 percent in 2050.  Source: The Next Four Decades: The Older Population of the United States, U.S. Census Bureau  2010

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