Share of children, working-age adults, and older people in United States

United States: Share of children, working-age adults, and older people was 60.43 million people in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
60.43 million people
Change on year
down 1.0%
World rank
6th
of 236 countries
All-time high
62.95 million people
in 2018
All-time low
42.09 million people
in 1950
Years of data
74
1950–2023

Share of children, working-age adults, and older people in United States, 1950–2023

020.0M40.0M60.0M195019862023

Source: UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in people.

Analysis

United States recorded 60.43 million people for share of children, working-age adults, and older people in 2023.

That represents a change of down 1.0% on the previous year and down 2.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of children, working-age adults, and older people in United States peaked at 62.95 million people in 2018 and was at its lowest, 42.09 million people, in 1950.

United States ranks 6th of 236 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 74 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 48.44 million people 42.09 million people 54.85 million people 10
1960s 59.12 million people 56.36 million people 60.25 million people 10
1970s 55.66 million people 51.81 million people 59.33 million people 10
1980s 52.15 million people 51.43 million people 53.79 million people 10
1990s 57.71 million people 54.66 million people 59.35 million people 10
2000s 60.21 million people 59.57 million people 61.01 million people 10
2010s 62.33 million people 61.28 million people 62.95 million people 10
2020s 61.42 million people 60.43 million people 62.43 million people 4

Countries ranked near United States

  1. 3 Nigeria 94.55 million people compare
  2. 4 Pakistan 91.67 million people compare
  3. 5 Indonesia 70.11 million people compare
  4. 7 Ethiopia 50.66 million people compare
  5. 8 Democratic Republic of Congo 48.76 million people compare
  6. 9 Bangladesh 48.63 million people compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More population data for United States

All data for United States →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of children, working-age adults, and older people in United States?
Share of children, working-age adults, and older people in United States was 60.43 million people in 2023, according to UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of children, working-age adults, and older people recorded in United States?
The highest recorded value was 62.95 million people in 2018.
What is the lowest share of children, working-age adults, and older people recorded in United States?
The lowest recorded value was 42.09 million people in 1950.
How does United States rank for share of children, working-age adults, and older people?
United States ranks 6th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is share of children, working-age adults, and older people rising or falling in United States?
Over the last ten years it is down 2.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this United States data come from?
The figures come from UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of children, working-age adults, and older people. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 74 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Share of children, working-age adults, and older people
Unit
people
Source
UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 17,464 data points, 1950–2023
Last refreshed

The total population, measured on 1 July of the year shown. This only includes people aged 0-14.