The median age of the U.S. population reached 38.9 years in 2022, according to data published Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. On an upward trend for decades, the median age has risen by nearly nine years since 1980, and almost four years since 2000. The increase is driven by decreasing birth rates and the aging of the two largest generations, baby boomers and millennials.
“[T]he United States is graying, posing challenges for the work force, the economy and social programs,” says Dana Goldstein of The New York Times.