From Pyramids to Pillars: Two Centuries of Change in the U.S. Population, 1860 to 2060

The United States is an aging country. Already there are more middle-aged people than children and, in just a few decades, we project that older adults will outnumber kids for the first time in U.S. history. But the country’s population did not always look like this. What did it look like in 1860 and how has it changed across the decades?

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Page Last Revised - January 2, 2025