These are the 10 states with the oldest population in the US in 2024

As the United States continues to experience demographic shifts, one of the most prominent trends is the aging of its population. Though the life expectancy in the country has been falling since the pandemic, the country is marching progressively older.

The median age for the whole country is 38.7 years-old. This average has been growing since the 1970s and poses a significant problem for policy makers: how does the working population, growing smaller as the country ages, produce enough to support the wellbeing for those Americans who can no longer work?

A 2016 research paper from the Federal Reserve penned these problems. It summised that the retirement of the ‘Baby Boomer’ generation has significantly reduced the size of the labor force in the US as Capital is not being produced at a fast-enough rate relative to the population, resulting in lower investment.

The way to solve this issue is to inflate labor participation, usually in the form of higher immigration and a later retirement age. Neither are politically popular.

Methods already taken include the ever-increasing full pension age, now at 67 years-old with some plans to increase this to 70 in Congress. With average life-expectancy just 76 years-old, the prospect of virtually no retirement is a worry for many. Held-up in Congress is further restrictions on immigration from the Mexican border; policy makers hands’ are tied with two unpopular decisions.

Through an exploration of demographic data it is possible to find out which states could be likely to suffer the issues most acutely. The 2022 census has information which breaks down the median state-by-state.

Do these state share anything in common?

Nine of these ten states have very little immigration; only Florida has a significant number of migrants. Immigrants tend to be younger on average compared to the native population for a number of reasons, one being the hunt for better economic opportunities, arriving in their younger years to pursue education, employment, or family reunification. These settled immigrant also have higher birth rates than native-born families. Thus, low immigration means a high median age.

So how does Florida make the list with a high number of migrants? Compared to the other states, Florida has long been a popular destination for retirees from across the US. Of the 21.78 million people living there, 8.6 million are 50-years old or older, the second most in the country. This is the primary factor in their high median age.