New population estimates highlight increase in national median age; median age in Lake County declines
- LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
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The nation’s median age increased by 0.2 years to 38.9 years between 2021 and 2022, according to Vintage 2022 Population Estimates released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Median age is the age at which half of the population is older and half of the population is younger.
“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.”
Lake County was one of five counties in California to show a decrease of 0.5% or more in median age.
The latest data showed that Lake County’s median age range from 39 to 42.9 years.
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. 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.
The median age of the nation’s 3,144 counties or equivalents ranged from 20.9 to 68.1 in 2022. About 75% (2,357) had a median age at or above that of the nation, down from 76% and 2,374 counties in 2021.
Roughly a quarter (787) had a median age below the national median age in 2022, 17 more than in 2021 when 770 counties had median ages under the then 38.7 national median age. Fifty-nine percent (1,846) of U.S. counties experienced an increase in median age between 2021 and 2022, up from 51% or 1,590 counties between 2020 and 2021.
Race and ethnicity facts
The new Census data release included pdated estimates by race and Hispanic origin.
Statistics of particular note include the following.
The White population in the United States was 260,570,291 in 2022, representing an increase of 0.1% or 388,779 people from 2021.
In 2022, California had the largest White population (29,079,926), followed by Texas (23,853,626) and Florida (17,553,268). Florida also had the largest-gaining (321,037) and second fastest-growing (1.9%) White population behind South Carolina, which grew by 2.0% (74,990).
Comprising 15% of the nation’s total population in 2022, the national Black population totaled 50,087,750, up 0.9% from July 2021.
Texas had the largest Black population in 2022, with a total of 4,334,313, an increase of 120,945 (2.9%) from July 2021. Maine had the fastest-growing Black population, expanding by 7.0% (2,412 people) between 2021 and 2022.
The Asian population in the United States was 24,683,008 in 2022, up 577,420 or 2.4% from 2021.
In 2022, California had the largest Asian population (7,242,739), followed by New York (2,085,285) and Texas (1,958,128). California also had the largest-gaining Asian population with an increase of 108,881, while Montana — with an increase of 6.8% (1,276) — had the fastest-growing Asian population.
California was home to four of the top five counties with the largest Asian populations in 2022. Los Angeles County topped the list with an Asian population of 1,711,002, followed by Santa Clara County (830,790) and Orange County (816,274). Alameda County, California, had the fifth largest Asian population at just over 616,000, and Queens County, New York, ranked fourth with an Asian population of 671,358.
The American Indian and Alaska Native population reached 7,274,656 between July 2021 and July 2022, an increase of 93,443 or 1.3%. California had the largest American Indian and Alaska Native population at 1,114,580, followed by Oklahoma (572,435) and Texas (528,255).
Texas also had the largest-gaining American Indian and Alaska Native population, having increased by 15,245 from 2021 to 2022, while the District of Columbia had the nation’s fastest-growing American Indian and Alaska Native population, increasing by 5.0% or 507 residents.
The Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population rose to 1,759,756, an increase of 1.8% or 31,949 people in 2022.
Hawaii had the largest Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population (393,837), followed by California (373,173) and Washington (109,115).
The Hispanic population gained over a million residents, reaching 63,664,346 in 2022, an increase of 1.7%.
Among states, California (15,732,180), Texas (12,068,549), and Florida (6,025,030) had the largest Hispanic population, while New York (3,867,076) was the only state to experience a drop (-0.7%, -27,522) in the Hispanic population.