Last week the Census Bureau released a report on demographic changes in the United States. The median age declined in seven states between 2012 and 2013, including five in the Great Plains, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
“We’re seeing the demographic impact of two booms,” Census Bureau Director John Thompson said. “The population in the Great Plains energy boom states is becoming younger and more male as workers move in seeking employment in the oil and gas industry, while the U.S. as a whole continues to age as the youngest of the baby boom generation enters their 50s.”
Here are seven figures you should know from the latest report:
1. Non-Hispanic, single-race whites remained the nation’s largest group with a population of 197.8 million. The total of all other groups was 118.3 million, or 37.4 percent of the population. Non-Hispanic single-race whites made up 52.4 percent of the population under 18.
2. Asians were the fastest-growing group from 2012 to 2013. The Asian population increased by almost 2.9 percent to 19.4 million, an increase of about 554,000 people.
3. Following Asians in rate of growth were Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders (increasing 2.3 percent to just over 1.4 million), American Indians and Alaska Natives (increasing 1.5 percent to slightly more than 6.4 million) and blacks or African-Americans (increasing 1.2 percent to 45 million).
4. The non-Hispanic white alone population was the only group to have natural decrease (more deaths than births) from 2012 to 2013. However, due to migration, its population rose 0.1 percent from 2012 to 2013, reaching 197.8 million. Because of its slow rate of growth relative to other groups, its share of the total population declined from 63.0 percent to 62.6 percent over the period.
5. The 85-and-older population grew by about 3 percent between 2012 and 2013 to 6 million. The number of people age 100 and over reached 67,000 in 2013.
6. Florida had the highest percentage of its total population age 65 and older (18.7 percent), followed by Maine (17.7 percent). Utah had the highest percentage of its total population under age 5 at 8.8 percent, followed by Alaska (7.5 percent).
7. There were only 10 states where males made up the majority of the population on July 1, 2013. Alaska had the highest percentage of men at 52.4 percent, followed by North Dakota (51.1 percent), Wyoming (51.0 percent), Hawaii (50.5 percent), Nevada (50.4 percent), Utah (50.3 percent), Colorado (50.2 percent), South Dakota (50.2 percent), Montana (50.2 percent), and Idaho (50.1 percent).
Other posts in this series:
Trafficking in Persons Report • American Time Use Survey • The Shifting Religious Identity of Latinos in the U.S. • Inmate Sexual Victimization by Correctional Authorities • Tax Day Edition • Wages and Employment in America
