Misplaced Pages

Demographics of the United States
Population pyramid of the United States in 2023
Population	340,110,988 (est. 2024)
Density	86.16/sq mi (33.27/km)
Growth rate	0.67% (2024)
Birth rate	10.7 births/1,000 population (2023)
Death rate	9.2 deaths/1,000 population (2023)
Life expectancy	79.3 years (2023)
• male	76.9 years (2023)
• female	81.8 years (2023)
Fertility rate	1.84 born/woman (2024)
Infant mortality rate	5.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2020)
Net migration rate	3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024)
Age structure
Under 18 years	22.2% (2021)
18–44 years	35.9% (2021)
45–64 years	25.2% (2021)
65 and over	18.5% (2024)
Sex ratio
Total	0.97 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
At birth	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.05 male(s)/female
15–64 years	1 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.81 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	American
Major ethnic	Whites (61.63%) Britons (11.71%) English (7.70%) Irish (3.29%) Scots (0.44%) Scots-Irish (0.11%) Welsh (0.08%) Others (0.09%) Germans (4.69%) Pennsylvania Germans (0.03%) Others (4.66%) White Hispanics (3.80%) Spaniards (0.56%) Others (3.24%) Italians (2.00%) Poles (0.81%) French (0.54%) French-Canadians (0.08%) Others (0.46%) Arabs (0.48%) Lebanese (0.10%) Egyptians (0.09%) Others (0.29%) Norwegians (0.31%) Russians (0.30%) Dutch (0.27%) Swedes (0.24%) Portuguese (0.18%) Greeks (0.17%) Others (35.86%)
Minor ethnic	Blacks (12.40%) Black Hispanics (0.35%) Haitians (0.28%) Jamaicans (0.24%) Nigerians (0.15%) Others (11.38%) Mixed (10.21%) Mixed Hispanics (6.12%) Others (4.09%) Asians (6.00%) East, Central and Southeast Asians (4.18%) Chinese (1.25%) Filipinos (0.93%) Vietnamese (0.59%) Koreans (0.46%) Japanese (0.22%) Others (0.73%) South Asians (1.74%) Indians (1.33%) Pakistanis (0.19%) Others (0.22%) Asian Hispanics (0.08%) Natives (1.12%) Native Hispanics (0.45%) Aztecs (0.12%) Mayas (0.06%) Others (0.27%) Navajos (0.12%) Cherokees (0.07%) Others (0.48%) Islanders (0.21%) Hawaiians (0.06%) Samoans (0.04%) Islander Hispanics (0.02%) Others (0.11%) Some other race (8.42%) Other Hispanics (7.91%) Others (0.51%)
Language
Official	No official language at national level. English is designated official in 32 of 50 states (and in all 5 U.S. territories). Hawaiian is official in Hawaii, 20 Native languages are official in Alaska, and Sioux is official in South Dakota. Samoan is an official language in American Samoa, Chamorro is an official language in Guam, Chamorro and Carolinian are official languages in the Northern Mariana Islands, and Spanish is an official language in Puerto Rico.
Spoken	(primary language at home) English 78.5% Spanish 13.2% Other Indo-European 3.7% Asian and Pacific Islander 3.3% Other 0.8%
Source: The World Factbook

The United States had an official estimated resident population of 340,110,988 on July 1, 2024, according to the Census Bureau. This figure includes the 50 states and Washington, D.C. but excludes the population of five unincorporated U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands) as well as several minor island possessions. The United States is the third most populous country in the world, and the most populous in the Americas and the Western Hemisphere. The Census Bureau showed a population increase of 0.4% for the twelve-month period ending in July 2022, below the world estimated annual rate of 1.03%, in 2021. The total fertility rate (TFR) is around 1.84 children per woman, as of 2024 which is below the replacement fertility rate of approximately 2.1. By several metrics, including racial and ethnic background, religious affiliation, and percentage of rural and urban divide, the state of Illinois is the most representative of the larger demography of the United States.

The U.S. population almost quadrupled during the 20th century – at a growth rate of about 1.3% a year – from about 76 million in 1900 to 281 million in 2000. It is estimated to have reached the 200 million mark in 1967, and the 300 million mark on October 17, 2006. Foreign-born immigration caused the U.S. population to continue its rapid increase, with the foreign-born population doubling from almost 20 million in 1990 to over 45 million in 2015, representing one-third of the population increase. The U.S. population grew by 1.6 million from 2018 to 2019, with 38% of growth from immigration. Population growth is fastest among minorities as a whole, and according to the Census Bureau's 2020 estimation, 50% of U.S. children under the age of 18 are members of ethnic minority groups. As of 2020, white people numbered 235,411,507 or 71% of the population, including people who identified as white in combination with another race. People who identified as white alone (including Hispanic whites) numbered 204,277,273 or 61.6% of the population and Non-Latino whites made up 57.8% of the country's population.

Latino Americans accounted for 51.1% of the total national population growth between 2010 and 2020. The Hispanic or Latino population increased from 50.5 million in 2010 to 62.1 million in 2020: a 23% increase and a numerical increase of more than 11.6 million. Immigrants and their U.S.-born descendants are expected to provide most of the U.S. population gains in the decades ahead.

Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial group in America, with a growth rate of 35%. However, multi-racial Asian Americans are the fastest growing group in the country, with a growth rate of 55%, reflecting the increase of mixed-race marriages in the United States.

As of 2022, births to White American mothers remain around 50% of the US total, reflecting a decline of 3% compared to 2021. In the same time period, births to Asian American and Hispanic women increased by 2% and 6%, respectively.

Population

On April 1, 2020, the United States had a population of 331,449,281, according to the 2020 United States census.

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Note: Population estimate of United States excluding overseas armed forces.

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Age and sex distribution

Note that this table shows some people in more than one group: for example someone aged 90 is included three times: in "65+", "75+" and "85+".

Age distribution by selected age groups

• 0 – 14 years: 18.2%
• 15 – 24 years: 13.0%
• 25 – 54 years: 39.0%
• 55 – 64 years: 12.9%
• 65 years and over: 16.8%

The median age of the total population as of 2021 is 38.8 years; the male median age is 37.7 years; the female median age is 39.8 years.

Birth rate

• 12.023 births/1,000 population (2023) Country comparison to the world: 145st

Death rate

• 10.45 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.) Country comparison to the world: 72th{clarify}}
• 8.81 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est)* *age-adjusted death rate

Total fertility rate (TFR)

The total fertility rate (TFR) is around 1.84 children per woman, as of 2024

In 1800 the average U.S. woman had 7.04 children; by the first decade of the 1900s, this number had already decreased to 3.56. Since 1971, the birth rate has generally been below the replacement rate of 2.1. Since the Great Recession of 2007, the rate has consistently been below replacement. The drop in the TFR from 2.08 per woman in 2007 to 1.76 in 2017 was mostly due to the declining birth rate of ethnic minorities, teenagers and women in their 30s. During that period, the birthrate for women ages 35 to 44 has risen. The 12 month ending general fertility rate increased from 56.6 to 57.0 in 2022 Q1 compared to 2021 Q4.

Mother's mean age at first birth

• 27.1 years (2020 est.)

Dependency ratio

The dependency ratio is the age-population ratio of people who are normally not in the labor force (the dependent population, which includes those aged 0 to 14 and 65 and older) to those who are (the productive part, ages 15 to 64). It is used to gauge the strain on the populace that is productive. The support ratio is the ratio of the working-age population to the elderly population, that is, the reciprocal of the aged dependency ratio.

• Total dependency ratio: 54.03% (2021) Country comparison to the world*: 110th
• Child dependency ratio: 28.11% (2021) Country comparison to the world*: 138th
• Aged dependency ratio: 25.92% (2021) Country comparison to the world*: 42nd
• Potential support ratio: 3.86 (2021) Country comparison to the world*: 160th

*Ratios are ranked from highest to lowest by country.

Life expectancy

• Total population: 80.8 years (2023), 76.1 years (2021), 77.0 years (2020)
• Male: 78.5 years (2023), 73.2 years (2021), 74.2 years (2020)
• Female: 82.9 years (2023), 79.9 years (2021), 79.9 years (2020)

The average life expectancy in the United States has been declining since 2014. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites three main reasons: a 72% increase in overdoses in the last decade (including a 30% increase in opioid overdoses from July 2016 to September 2017, but did not differentiate between accidental overdose with a legal prescription and overdose with opioids obtained illegally and/or combined with illegal drugs i.e., heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, etc.), a ten-year increase in liver disease (the rate for men age 25 to 34 increased by 8% per year; for women, by 11% per year), and a 33% increase in suicide rates since 1999.

From 2019 to 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to approximately 61% of the decrease in life expectancy in the United States. While increases in mortality from unintentional injuries, heart disease, homicide, and diabetes contributed to 11.7%, 5.8%, 2.9%, and 2.8% of the decrease in life expectancy from 2019 to 2020, respectively. Life expectancy has also varied by racial and ethnic group, with Non-Hispanic Asians having the highest life expectancy and Non-Hispanic American Indians having the lowest. In 2021, life expectancy at birth in the United States fell for the second year in a row, the first two-year drop since 1961–1963.

Life expectancy at birth by Hispanic origin and race, and sex:
United States, 2019, 2020 & 2021

Race	Males 2021	Females 2021	Total 2021*	Total 2020	Total 2019	2019 to 2021 /
NH White	73.7	79.2	76.4	77.4	78.8	2.4
NH Black	66.7	74.8	70.8	71.5	74.8	4.0
NH Asian	81.2	85.6	83.5	83.6	85.6	2.1
NH American Indian or Alaska Native	61.5	69.2	65.2	67.1	71.8	6.6
Hispanic	74.4	81.0	77.7	77.9	81.9	4.2
All origins and races	73.2	79.1	76.1	77.0	78.8	2.7

NOTE: Life expectancy at birth data for 2021 are provisional.*

• NH = Non-Hispanic.
• LEB = Life expectancy at birth
• Growth arrows (/) indicate an increase or decrease in total life expectancy compared to years before.

Life tables

Density

The most densely populated state is New Jersey (1,263/mi or 488/km).

The population is highly urbanized, with 83.3% of the population residing in cities and suburbs. Large urban clusters are spread throughout the eastern half of the United States (particularly the Great Lakes area, northeast, east, and southeast) and the western tier states; mountainous areas, principally the Rocky Mountains and Appalachian chain, deserts in the southwest, the dense boreal forests in the extreme north, and the central prairie states are less densely populated; Alaska's population is concentrated along its southern coast – with particular emphasis on the city of Anchorage – and Hawaii's is centered on the island of Oahu. California and Texas are the most populous states, as the mean center of U.S. population has consistently shifted westward and southward. New York City is the most populous city in the United States and has been since at least 1790.

In the U.S. territories, population centers include the San Juan metro area in Puerto Rico, Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, and the island of Tutuila in American Samoa.

Growth rate

• Population growth rate: 0.12%. Country comparison to the world: 130th

Births and fertility by race

A total of 3,659,289 babies were born in 2021, a 1% increase from 2020. Additionally, researchers also looked at births by race and found that White and Hispanic women each saw the number of births increase by about 2% from 2020 to 2021. Meanwhile, Black and Asian women saw the number of births decline by 2.4% and 2.5%, respectively, over the same period, while American Indian/Alaskan Native women saw their numbers fall by 3.2%. It also marks the first rise in births since 2014. Prior to this report, the total number of births had been decreasing by an average of 2% per year. However, the total fertility rate (the number of births that the average women have over their lifetimes) was 1.6635 births per every woman. This is still below the replacement level, the level a population needs to replace itself, which is, at least, 2.1 births per woman.

U.S.-born people

Note: Hispanics are counted both by their ethnicity and by their race, giving a higher overall number. Also note that growth arrows indicate an increase or decrease in the number of births, not in the fertility rate.

Race of mother	Number of births in 2016	% of all born	TFR (2016)	Number of births in 2017	% of all born	TFR (2017)	Number of births in 2018	% of all born	TFR (2018)	Number of births in 2019	% of all born	TFR (2019)	Number of births in 2020	% of all born	TFR (2020)	2020-2016
White	2,900,933	73.5%	1.77	2,812,267	72.9%	1.76	2,788,439	73.5%	1.75
> NH White	2,056,332	52.1%	1.719	1,992,461	51.7%	1.666	1,956,413	51.6%	1.640	1,915,912	51.1%	1.611	1,843,432	51.0%	1.552	10.35%
Black	623,886	15.8%	1.90	626,027	16.2%	1.92	600,933	15.8%	1.87
> NH Black	558,622	14.2%	1.832	560,715	14.5%	1.824	552,029	14.6%	1.792	548,075	14.6%	1.776	529,811	14.7%	1.714	5.16%
NH Asian	254,471	6.5%	1.690	249,250	6.5%	1.597	240,798	6.4%	1.525	238,769	6.4%	1.511	219,068	6.1%	1.385	13.9%
NH American Indian or Alaska native	31,452	0.8%	1.794	29,957	0.8%	1.702	29,092	0.8%	1.651	28,450	0.76%	1.612	26,813	0.74%	1.517	14.75%
NH Hawaiian (incl. other Pacific Islander)	9,342	0.2%	2.076	9,426	0.2%	2.085	9,476	0.3%	2.106	9,770	0.26%	2.178	9,626	0.26%	2.142	3.04%
Total	3,945,875	100%	1.820	3,855,500	100%	1.765	3,791,712	100%	1.729	3,747,540	100%	1.706	3,613,647	100%	1.641	9.84%

NOTE:

• NH = Non-Hispanic.
• TFR = Total fertility rate (number of children born per woman).
• Growth arrows (/) indicate an increase or decrease in the number of births, not in the fertility rate, comparing to the previous year.

Ethnicity of mother	Number of births in 2016	% of all born	TFR (2016)	Number of births in 2017	% of all born	TFR (2017)	Number of births in 2018	% of all born	TFR (2018)	Number of births in 2019	% of all born	TFR (2019)	Number of births in 2020	% of all born	TFR (2020)	2020-2016
Non-Hispanic (of any race)	3,027,428			2,956,736			2,905,502			2,861,073			2,746,933
Hispanic (of any race)	918,447	23.3%	2.093	898,764	23.3%	2.007	886,210	23.4%	1.959	886,467	23.7%	1.940	866,714	24.0%	1.876	5.63%

Percent of births to White Non-Hispanic women that were their 8th+ child, by US state, in 2021

New York: 2.21%, New Jersey: 1.7%, Wisconsin: 1.04%, Arkansas: 1.02%, Montana: 0.86%, Ohio: 0.85%, Iowa: 0.84%, Pennsylvania: 0.82%, Kansas: 0.76%, Kentucky: 0.76%, Utah: 0.75%, Minnesota: 0.75%, Indiana: 0.72%, Wyoming: 0.72%, Mississippi: 0.7%, Michigan: 0.7%, Idaho 0.65%, West Virginia: 0.64%, Arizona: 0.62%, North Dakota 0.59%, South Dakota 0.54%, Arkansas 0.51%, New Mexico: 0.50%, Maryland: 0.49%, Oregon: 0.46%, Michigan: 0.44%, Oklahoma: 0.44%, Florida: 0.43%, Tennessee: 0.42%, Virginia: 0.41%, Illinois: 0.40%, Nevada: 0.40%, West Virginia: 0.39%, Delaware: 0.38%, Georgia: 0.36%, Nebraska: 0.36%, Texas: 0.33%, Alabama: 0.33%, Missouri: 0.32%, Vermont: 0.31%, South Carolina: 0.30%, California: 0.29%, Colorado: 0.29%, North Carolina: 0.25%, Alaska: 0.25%, Connecticut: 0.20%, New Hampshire: 0.19%, Massachusetts: 0.17%.

Immigration (2023)

Immigrants in the United States
Country	Immigrants
Mexico	10,918,205
India	2,910,042
China	2,193,250
Philippines	2,051,900
El Salvador	1,494,869
Cuba	1,450,808
Vietnam	1,365,841
Dominican Republic	1,265,231
Guatemala	1,250,053
Colombia	1,049,821

In 2017, out of the U.S. foreign-born population, some 45% (20.7 million) were naturalized citizens, 27% (12.3 million) were lawful permanent residents (including many eligible to become citizens), 6% (2.2 million) were temporary lawful residents, and 23% (10.5 million) were unauthorized immigrants. Among current living immigrants to the U.S., the top five countries of birth are Mexico (25% of immigrants), China (6%), India (6%), the Philippines (5%) and El Salvador (3%). Some 13% of current living immigrants come from Europe and Canada, and 10% from the Caribbean. Among new arrivals, Asian immigrants have been more numerous than Hispanic immigrants since 2010; in 2017, 37.4% of immigrant arrivals were Asian, and 26.6% were Hispanic. Until 2017 and 2018, the United States led the world in refugee resettlement for decades, admitting more refugees than the rest of the world combined. From fiscal year 1980 until 2017, 55% of refugees came from Asia, 27% from Europe, 13% from Africa, and 4% from Latin America, fleeing war and persecution.

• Net migration rate (2024): 3 migrants/1,000 population. Country comparison to the world: 38th
• Net migration rate* (2020-2021): 0.73 migrants/1,000 population.

*(mid-year estimates)

As of 2017, 13.6% (44.4 million) of the population was foreign born – an increase from 4.7% in 1970 but less than the 1890 record of 14.8%. 45% of the foreign born population were naturalized US citizens. 23% (10.3 million) of the foreign born community is undocumented, accounting for 3.2% of the total population. According to the 2010 census, Latin America and the Caribbean is the largest region-of-birth group, accounting for 53% of the foreign born population. As of 2018 this region is still the largest source of immigrants to the United States In 2018, there were almost 90 million immigrants and U.S. born children of immigrants (second-generation Americans) in the United States, accounting for 28% of the overall U.S. population. In 2018, 1,096,611 immigrants were granted either permanent or temporary legal residence in the United States

Inflow of New Legal Permanent Residents, Top 15 Sending Countries, 2021

Country	2021
Mexico	107,230
India	93,450
China	49,847
Philippines	27,511
Dominican Republic	24,553
Cuba	23,077
El Salvador	18,668
Brazil	18,351
Vietnam	16,312
Colombia	15,293
Venezuela	14,412
Jamaica	13,357
Nigeria	13,100
South Korea	12,351
Haiti	11,456

Vital statistics

This article may require cleanup to meet Misplaced Pages's quality standards. The specific problem is: Needs merging with "Vital statistics" section under "Population" above. Please help improve this article if you can. (April 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2021, the population of the United States grew at a slower rate than in any other year since the country's founding. The U.S. population grew only 0.1% from the previous year before. The United States' population has grown by less than one million people for the first time since 1937, with the lowest numeric growth since at least 1900, when the Census Bureau began yearly population estimates. Apart from the previous few years, when population growth plummeted to historically low levels, the slowest pace of increase in the twentieth century occurred between 1918 and 1919, when the influenza epidemic and World War I were both in full swing. Slower population growth has been the norm in the United States for some years, owing to lower fertility and net international migration, as well as rising mortality from an aging population.

To put it another way, since the mid-2010s, births and net international migration have been dropping while deaths have risen. These trends have a cumulative effect of reduced population increase.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this trend, resulting in a historically slow population increase in 2021.

The growth rate is 0.1% as estimated for 2021.

The birth rate is 11.0 births/1,000 population, as of 2020. This was the lowest birth rate since records began. There were 3,613,647 births in 2020, this was the lowest number of births since 1980.

11.0 births/1,000 population per year (final data for 2020).

11.4 births/1,000 population per year (final data for 2019).

In 2020, the CDC reported that there were 1,676,911 marriages in 2020, compared to 2019, there were 2,015,603 marriages. Marriage rates varied significantly by state, ranging from 3.2 marriages/1,000 population in California to 21.0 marriages/1,000 population in Nevada.*

• 5.1 marriages/1,000 population per year (provisional data for 2020).
• 6.1 marriages/1,000 population per year (provisional data for 2019).

*Rates are based on provisional counts of marriages by state of occurrence

In 2009, Time magazine reported that 40% of births were to unmarried women. The following is a breakdown by race for unwed births: 17% Asian, 29% White, 53% Hispanics (of any race), 66% Native Americans, and 72% Black American.

According to the CDC, in 2020, there were at least, 1,461,121 births to unmarried women. In 2020, 40.5% of births were to unmarried women. The following is a breakdown by race for unwed births: 28.4% Non-Hispanic White, 70.4% Non-Hispanic Black, and 52.8% Hispanic (of any race).

The drop in the birth rate from 2007 to 2009 is believed to be associated with the Great Recession.

A study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) found that more than half (51 percent) of live hospital births in 2008 and 2011 were male.

Per U.S. federal government data released in March 2011, births fell 4% from 2007 to 2009, the largest drop in the U.S. for any two-year period since the 1970s. Births have declined for three consecutive years, and are now 7% below the peak in 2007. This drop has continued through 2010, according to data released by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics in June 2011. Numerous experts have suggested that this decline is largely a reflection of unfavorable economic conditions. This connection between birth rates and economic downturns partly stems from the fact that American birth rates have now fallen to levels that are comparable to the Great Depression of the 1930s. Teen birth rates in the U.S. are at the lowest level in U.S. history. In fact, teen birth rates in the U.S. have consistently decreased since 1991 through 2011, except for a brief increase between 2005 and 2007. The other aberration from this otherwise steady decline in teen birth rates is the 6% decrease in birth rates for 15- to 19-year-olds between 2008 and 2009. Despite these years of decrease, U.S. teen birth rates are still higher than in other developed nations. Racial differences prevail with teen birth and pregnancy rates as well. The American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic Black teen pregnancy rates are more than double the non-Hispanic white teen birth rate.

U.S. demographic table, 1935–2023

p = provisional data

Current vital statistics

Period	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase
January-September 2023	2,690,629	2,291,991	+398,638
January-September 2024	2,712,621	2,287,094	+425,527
Difference	+21,992 (+0.817%)	-4,897 (-0.214%)	+26,889

All current numbers in this section are provisional and may change through future updates. For more information, please see the reference link.

Total fertility rates by state

U.S. projected population table

The United States Census Bureau's 2017 projections were produced using the cohort-component method. In the cohort-component method, the components of population change (fertility, mortality, and net migration) are projected separately for each birth cohort (persons born in a given year). The base population is advanced each year by using projected survival rates and net international migration. Each year, a new birth cohort is added to the population by applying the projected fertility rates to the female population.

Observed and Total Population for the States, 2030-2040

states	2030	2040
Alabama	5,029,833	5,056,796
Alaska	792,188	819,954
Arizona	8,238,407	9,166,279
Arkansas	3,155,798	3,217,535
California	43,751,116	46,467,001
Colorado	6,766,983	7,692,907
Connecticut	3,601,202	3,542,707
Delaware	1,082,192	1,164,344
District of Columbia	888,891	1,058,820
Florida	25,372,664	28,886,983
Georgia (U.S. state)	11,835,126	12,820,271
Hawaii	1,548,831	1,619,703
Idaho	2,008,329	2,227,842
Illinois	12,709,901	12,397,564
Indiana	6,978,254	7,095,000
Iowa	3,317,412	3,392,783
Kansas	3,011,782	3,032,653
Kentucky	4,648,190	4,714,761
Louisiana	4,945,783	5,062,780
Maine	1,344,841	1,326,159
Maryland	6,553,548	6,842,902
Massachusetts	7,420,882	7,742,628
Michigan	10,068,941	9,960,115
Minnesota	6,070,551	6,364,886
Mississippi	3,003,963	2,962,160
Missouri	6,318,126	6,359,970
Montana	1,163,353	1,236,304
Nebraska	2,089,841	2,190,918
Nevada	3,591,043	4,058,371
New Hampshire	1,385,799	1,393,451
New Jersey	9,363,317	9,470,012
New Mexico	2,132,823	2,127,318
New York	20,638,066	20,873,488
North Carolina	11,673,849	12,658,927
North Dakota	923,452	1,060,457
Ohio	11,837,405	11,751,540
Oklahoma	4,253,604	4,439,038
Oregon	4,738,074	5,164,041
Pennsylvania	12,946,245	12,809,150
Rhode Island	1,068,663	1,055,318
South Carolina	5,792,247	6,352,502
South Dakota	973,361	1,043,032
Tennessee	7,395,106	7,823,662
Texas	34,738,482	40,015,913
Utah	3,786,963	4,344,339
Vermont	617,969	601,865
Virginia	9,331,666	9,876,728
Washington	8,746,493	9,776,126
West Virginia	1,746,577	1,661,849
Wisconsin	5,971,617	5,997,137
Wyoming	605,972	615,787

Since 1790

This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: Update once 2021 Estimate Available. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (April 2021)

In 1900, when the U.S. population was 76 million, there were 66.8 million white Americans in the United States, representing 88% of the total population, 8.8 million Black Americans, with about 90% of them still living in Southern states, and slightly more than 500,000 Hispanics.

Under the law, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, the number of first-generation immigrants living in the United States has increased, from 9.6 million in 1970 to about 38 million in 2007. Around a million people legally immigrated to the United States per year in the 1990s, up from 250,000 per year in the 1950s.

In 1900, non-Hispanic whites comprised almost 97% of the population of the 10 largest U.S. cities. The Census Bureau reported that minorities (including Hispanic whites) made up 50.4% of the children born in the U.S. between July 2010 and July 2011, compared to 37% in 1990.

In 2014, the state with the lowest fertility rate was Rhode Island, with a rate of 1.56, while Utah had the greatest rate with a rate of 2.33. This correlates with the ages of the states' populations: Rhode Island has the ninth-oldest median age in the US – 39.2 – while Utah has the youngest – 29.0.

In 2017, the U.S. birth rate remains well below the replacement level needed – at least 2.1 children per woman so as not to experience population decreases – as white American births fell in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Among non-Hispanic white women, no states had a fertility rate above the replacement level. Among non-Hispanic Black women, 12 states reached above the replacement level needed. Among Hispanic women, 29 states did. For non-Hispanic white women, the highest total fertility rate was in Utah, at 2.099, and the lowest in the District of Columbia, at 1.012. Among non-Hispanic Black women, the highest total fertility rate was in Maine, at 4.003, and the lowest in Wyoming, at 1.146. For Hispanic women, the highest total fertility rate was in Alabama, at 3.085, and the lowest in Vermont, at 1.200, and Maine, at 1.281. Due to the aging and low birth rates among white people, deaths now outnumber births among white people (non-Hispanic) in more than half the states in the country.

In 2018, U.S. births fell to the lowest level in 32 years.

Median age of the population

Median age of the U.S. population through history. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce. Bureau of Census, United States Census Bureau and The World Factbook.

Vital statistics

The U.S. total fertility rate as of 2020 is 1.641

• 1.55 for non-Hispanic whites
• 1.71 for non-Hispanic Blacks
• 1.65 for Native Americans (including Hispanics)
• 1.53 for Asian Americans (including Hispanics)

Other:

• 1.88 for Hispanics (of all racial groups)

(Note that ≈95% of Hispanics are included as "white Hispanics" by CDC, which does not recognize the Census's "Some other race" category and counts people in that category as white.)

Source: National Vital statistics report based on 2010 US Census data

Total Fertility Rates from 1800 to 2020

The total fertility rate is the number of children born per woman. Sources: Ansley J. Coale, Zelnik and National Center for Health Statistics.

Life expectancy at birth from 1901 to 2015

Life expectancy in the United States from 1901 to 2015. Source: Our World In Data and the United Nations.

1901–1950

1901–2015

Source: UN World Population Prospects

Percent distribution of the total population by age: 1900 to 2015

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce, United Nations medium variant projections.

Population centers

The United States has dozens of major cities, including 31 "global cities" of all types, with 10 in the "alpha" group of global cities: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Boston, San Francisco, Miami, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Atlanta. As of 2021, the United States had 56 metropolitan areas with 1 million or more inhabitants. (The U.S. Census Bureau ranked Urban Honolulu as the 56th most populous area, with just over 1 million residents. See Table of United States Metropolitan Statistical Areas.)

As of 2011, about 250 million Americans live in or around urban areas. That means more than three-quarters of the U.S. population shares just about three percent of the U.S. land area.

The following table shows the populations of the top twenty metropolitan areas.

v t e Largest metropolitan areas in the United States 2023 MSA population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau
	Rank	Name	Region	Pop.	Rank	Name	Region	Pop.
New York Los Angeles	1	New York	Northeast	19,498,249	11	Boston	Northeast	4,919,179	Chicago Dallas–Fort Worth
	2	Los Angeles	West	12,799,100	12	Riverside–San Bernardino	West	4,688,053
	3	Chicago	Midwest	9,262,825	13	San Francisco	West	4,566,961
	4	Dallas–Fort Worth	South	8,100,037	14	Detroit	Midwest	4,342,304
	5	Houston	South	7,510,253	15	Seattle	West	4,044,837
	6	Atlanta	South	6,307,261	16	Minneapolis–Saint Paul	Midwest	3,712,020
	7	Washington, D.C.	South	6,304,975	17	Tampa–St. Petersburg	South	3,342,963
	8	Philadelphia	Northeast	6,246,160	18	San Diego	West	3,269,973
	9	Miami	South	6,183,199	19	Denver	West	3,005,131
	10	Phoenix	West	5,070,110	20	Baltimore	South	2,834,316

Race and ethnicity

Hispanics and Non-Hispanics in the United States (2020 census)

Hispanic and Non-Hispanic racial groups (2020 census)

Racial Non-Hispanic groups in the United States (2020 census)

Non-Hispanic Americans in 2020
Year	Population	% of Non-Hispanics	% of the USA	Percent Change
White (alone)	191,697,647	71.16%	57.83%	-2.6%
African (alone)	39,940,338	14.83%	12.05%	6.0%
Asian (alone)	19,618,719	7.28%	5.92%	35.6%
Multiracial	13,548,983	5.03%	4.09%	127.1%
Native (alone)	2,251,699	0.84%	0.67%	0.2%
Pacific Islander (alone)	622,018	0.23%	0.19%	29.2%
Some Other Race (alone)	1,689,833	0.63%	0.51%	179.7%
Total	269,369,237	100%	81.27%
Source: 2020 United States census

Racial Hispanic groups in the United States (2020 census)

Hispanic Americans in 2020
Year	Population	% of Hispanics	% of the USA	Percent Change
Multiracial	20,299,960	32.70%	6.12%	567.2%
White (alone)	12,579,626	20.26%	3.80%	-52.9%
Native (alone)	1,475,436	2.38%	0.45%	115.3%
African (alone)	1,163,862	1.87%	0.35%	-6.2%
Asian (alone)	267,330	0.43%	0.08%	27.8%
Pacific Islander (alone)	67,948	0.11%	0.02%	16.3%
Some Other Race (alone)	26,225,882	42.25%	7.91%	41.7%
Total	62,080,044	100%	18.73%
Source: 2020 United States census

Racial groups in the United States (2020 census) including racial identification of Hispanic

Racial and ethnic groups in the United States (2020 census)

*NHL
**OAR

Race

The United States Census Bureau collects racial data in accordance with guidelines provided by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and these data are based on self-identification. Many other countries count multiple races based on origin while America compiles multiple dozens of ethnicity groups into skin color grouping them together. The racial classifications and definitions used by the U.S. Census Bureau are:

• White: a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as "White" or report entries such as English, Iranian (Azerbaijani, Kurd and Lur), Irish, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Lebanese, Arab, Moroccan, or Caucasian.
• Black or African American: a person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as "Black, African Am." or report entries such as African American, Kenyan, Nigerian, or Haitian.
• American Indian or Alaska Native: a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment. This category includes people who indicate their race as "American Indian or Alaska Native" or report entries such as Navajo, Blackfeet, Inupiat, Yup'ik, Central American Indian groups, or South American Indian groups.
• Asian: a person having origins in any of the original peoples of East Asia, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.
• Some other race: includes all other responses not included in the "White", "Black or African American", "American Indian or Alaska Native", "Asian", and "Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander" racial categories described above includes Asians from West Asia or Russia (non-European Russia) and White Africans.
• Two or more races: people may choose to provide two or more races either by checking two or more race response check boxes, providing multiple responses, or some combination of check boxes and other responses.

Data about race and ethnicity are self-reported to the Census Bureau. Since the 2000 census, Congress has authorized people to identify themselves according to more than one racial classification by selecting more than one category. Only one ethnicity may be selected, however, because the Census Bureau recognizes only two ethnicities – "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino" – which are mutually exclusive since you can be one or the other, but not both. The singular term Hispanic has been supplanted as a federally-recognized ethnicity by the combined "Hispanic or Latino," defined by the Census Bureau as a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

According to the Census Bureau website, the racial composition of the United States in 2021 was:

According to the 2022 American Community Survey, the racial composition of the United States in 2022 was:

• United States in racial groups (of one race)
• White Americans
• African Americans
• Asian Americans

• United States in ethnic groups
• Non-Hispanic White Americans
• Hispanic Americans

Distribution of Total Population by Race, 1900 to 2020 (in %)

Hispanic are shown like part of the races. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Data are shown for the White, Black or African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and Some other race alone populations.

Median age by each race alone & ethnicity, 2021

Source: United States Census Bureau.

Median age by race alone or in combination & ethnicity, 2021

Source: United States Census Bureau.

Hispanic or Latino origin

The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines "Hispanic or Latino" as a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race. People who identify with the terms "Hispanic" or "Latino" are those who classify themselves in one of the specific Hispanic or Latino categories listed on the decennial census questionnaire and various Census Bureau survey questionnaires – "Mexican, Mexican Am., Chicano" or "Puerto Rican" or "Cuban" – as well as those who indicate that they are "another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin." People who identify their origin as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.

Population distribution by Hispanic origin 1970–2020 (in %)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, decennial census of population, 1970 (5-percent sample), 1980 to 2020.

Median age of each race alone, 2021 (Hispanic)

Source: United States Census Bureau.

Median age of each race alone or in combination, 2021 (Hispanic)

Source: United States Census Bureau.

Note: Hispanic origin is considered an ethnicity, not a race. Hispanics may be of any race.

Indigenous peoples

As of 2020, there are 9,666,058 people identifying as American Indian and Alaska Native people in the United States, including those identifying with more than one race, representing around 3% of the U.S. population. This number includes not only groups indigenous to the United States, but any Indigenous people of the Americas, including Mesoamerican peoples such as the Maya, as well as Canadian and South American natives. In 2022, 634,503 Indigenous people in the United States identified with Central American Indigenous groups, 875,183 identified with the Indigenous people of Mexico, and 47,518 identified with Canadian First Nations. Of the 3.2 million Americans who identified as American Indian or Alaska Native alone in 2022, around 45% were of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, with this number growing as increasing numbers of Indigenous people from Latin American countries immigrate to the US and more Latinos self-identify with indigenous heritage. Of groups Indigenous to the contiguous United States, the largest self-reported tribes are Cherokee (1,449,888), Navajo (434,910), Choctaw (295,373), Blackfeet (288,255), and Sioux (220,739). Additionally, 205,954 identify with an Alaska Native tribe. There are 573 federally recognized tribal governments in the United States.

The US Census Bureau classifies Native Hawaiians separately from American Indians and Alaska Natives, grouping them with Pacific Islanders instead. According to 2022 estimates, 714,847 Americans identified with Native Hawaiian ancestry.

Other groups

There were 16.1 million veterans in 2022, with only 6.2% of Americans having served in the Armed Forces.

In 2010, The Washington Post estimated that there were 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country. As of 2017, Pew Research reported that there an estimated 10.5 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

In 2022, an estimated 1,849,176 adults were imprisoned in the US.

Projections

A report by the U.S. Census Bureau projects a decrease in the ratio of non-Hispanic Whites between 2023 and 2060, a decline from 58.9% of the population to 44.9%. Non-Hispanic Whites are projected to no longer make up a majority of the population by 2050, but will remain the largest single ethnic group. Non-Hispanic whites made up 85% of the population in 1960.

While non-Hispanic whites are projected to become a minority, the total White population (including Hispanics), will remain a majority from 2023 to 2060, falling from 75.5% to 72.3% of the population who are white alone according to the projections. However, these projections are not directly comparable to other Census Bureau data, as they are based on a modified race dataset, which does not include the "some other race" category used in census surveys. Individuals identifying as “some other race” alone or in combination made up 16.2% of the population in 2022, and they are reclassified into recognized race categories in the dataset used for the projections. As a result, there is a significant discrepancy between the share of the white alone population in 2023 according to the projections (75.5%), and the estimated share of white alone (60.9%), as reported by the American Community Survey in 2022.

The report foresees the Hispanic or Latino population rising from 19.1% today to 26.9% by 2060, the Black percentage barely rising from 13.6% to 14.8%, and Asian Americans upping their 6.3% share to 9.4%. The United States had a population of 333 million people in July 2023, and is projected to reach 355  million by 2040 and 364 million in 2060. It is further projected that all of the increase in population from 2023 to 2060 will be due to immigrants.

Of the nation's children in 2060, 64% are expected to be of a minority ethnicity, up from 51% today. Approximately 32% are projected to be Hispanic or Latino (up from 26% in 2023), and 36% are projected to be single-race, non-Hispanic Whites (down from 49% in 2023). Racial and ethnic minorities surpassed non-Hispanic whites as the largest group of U.S. children under 5 years old in 2015.

The fastest growing racial group in America is Asian Americans with a growth rate of 35%, however the multi-racial mixed Asian group is growing even faster, with a growth rate of 55%. Multi-racial Asians are therefore the fastest growing demographic group in America.

In 2020, it was reported that 51.0% of births were to non-Hispanic white mothers. In 2021, the percentage increased to 51.5%. However, by 2022 the rate of births to white mothers had declined by 3%, dropping to 50% of all total births. In the same period, the rate of births to Asian and Hispanic women increased by 2% and 6%, respectively.

• Population pyramids of racial groups (of one race)
• White Americans
• African Americans
• Multiracial Americans
• Asian Americans
• Native Americans

• Population pyramids of ethnic groups
• Non-Hispanic White Americans
• Non-Hispanic African Americans
• Hispanic Americans

Pew Research Center projections

The United Nations projects a population of just over 400 million in 2060.

The country's racial profile will be vastly different, and although whites will remain the single largest ethnic group in the U.S., they will no longer be a majority excluding White Hispanics by 2055 according to Pew Research Center. Growth in the Hispanic and Asian populations is predicted to almost triple over the next 40 years. By 2055, the breakdown is estimated to be 48% non-Hispanic white, 24% Hispanic, 16% Black, and 14% Asian.

As of 2015, 14% of the United States' population is foreign born, compared to just 5% in 1965. Nearly 39 million immigrants have come to the U.S. since 1965, with most coming from Asia and Latin America. The 2015 Census Report predicts that the percentage of the U.S. population that is foreign-born will continue to increase, reaching 19% by 2060. This increase in the foreign-born population will account for a large share of the overall population growth.

The average person in the U.S. of 2060 is likely to be older than the average person of 2018 today, and it is projected that almost one in four people will be 65 or older.

U.S. Census Census Bureau projections

Percent minority 1970–2042 (2008 projections)

Note: "Minority" refers to people who reported their ethnicity and race as something other than non-Hispanic White alone in the decennial census.

Total US population

Self-reported ancestry

This table displays all self-reported ancestries with over 50,000 members, alone or in combination, according to estimates from the 2022 American Community Survey. The total population of the US according to the survey was 333,287,550, and 251,732,240 people reported an ancestry. Of these, 175,054,020 reported a single ancestry, and 76,678,224 reported two or more ancestries. Hispanic groups are not distinguished between total and partial ancestry: