Population articles
These reports cover the American experience ranging from aging population to civil rights to childcare to poverty.
Which states have the highest and lowest adult literacy rates?
Between 2017 and 2023, the percentage of adults performing at the lowest proficiency level in literacy increased by 9 percentage points. This is the first statistically significant drop since the initial round of data collection in 2012.This recurring survey, called the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), measures the competency of working-age adults ages 16–65 in three areas: literacy, numeracy, and digital problem-solving.
Jul 10, 2025How many high schoolers are trans?
About one in 30 high schoolers identifies as transgender, according to the 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. What does it mean to be transgender?Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s glossary, “transgender” is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity is different from their sex assigned at birth. People whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth are called “cisgender.”What percentage of US high schoolers are trans?When given a description of what it means to be trans, 3.3% of high schoolers reported that it applied to them. Of the other students, 93.3% of reported not identifying as trans, 2.2% weren’t sure, and 1.3% didn’t understand the question.
Jul 7, 2025Just the Facts about the US population, demographics, and geography
Household size, racial demographics, the average age of an American: these stats are always changing. And who has a college degree? How many people are registered to vote? Here’s America by the numbers.
What is the poverty rate in the US?
About 11.1% of the population as of 2023. The poverty rate is the percentage of people whose household income falls below the poverty threshold set by the government. It measures the percentage of people in households that don’t earn enough to pay for basic needs like food, housing, and healthcare. In 2023, 36.8 million people lived in poverty.
Updates annuallyHow many people live in subsidized housing in the United States?
About 9.05 million people in 2023, or about 2.0 people per unit. Subsidized housing options vary by location, ranging from high-rise or garden-style apartments to single-family dwellings, duplexes, and more. On average, residents in 2023 had lived in their units for ten years and two months.
How many people are in the US military? A demographic overview
As of March 2025, the US military consisted of 2.86 million people worldwide. Data from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) indicates that, in 2024, the US has the world’s third-largest active military by size, surpassed by Chine and India, respectively.These forces are spread across six main service branches the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Space Force – all tasked to protect and service the US.How many people are in the military?The military includes 2,075,619 military personnel and 788,470 civilians as of March 2025. The US military's total strength of 2.86 million troops is slightly greater than the population of Chicago, Illinois, the country's third-largest city.Of those military members, the Department of Defense (DoD) listed nearly 1.31 million people as active-duty troops, and 765,495 as national guard/reserves.
Jun 22, 2025How many Americans voted in 2024?
According to the Census Bureau, 65.3% of US citizens voted in the 2024 election, the third-highest turnout in the past 34 years. Turnout increased by 13.1 percentage points since the most recent mid-term elections in 2022, but decreased by 1.5 percentage points since the 2020 presidential election.
Jun 18, 2025Minimum wage in America: How many people are earning $7.25 an hour?
Although the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, the minimum an employer must pay depends on the state in which the employee resides. Many states have mandated minimum wages that are different from the federal minimum
Jun 3, 2025Data on Pacific Islander ethnicities, education, and income
There are 1.6 million Americans who identify as Pacific Islander, making up 0.49% of the population in 2023. From 2013 to 2023, the Pacific Islander population grew by 32.7%, or 400,000 people. Asian Americans are sometimes grouped with Pacific Islanders under the “AAPI” umbrella and are jointly celebrated every May during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. This population is diverse, with education and income varying widely between ethnic groups. What are the different ethnic groups among Pacific Islanders?There are three Pacific Islands regions: Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. Ethnicities are based on the island that a person’s family and ancestors originated from.
May 22, 2025What are the current swing states, and how have they changed over time?
Swing states, also known as battleground states, are states that could “swing” to either Democratic or Republican presidential candidates depending on the election. Because of their potential to go either "blue" or "red", political parties often spend much of their time and campaign resources on winning these states.While there is no universal definition of a swing state, they typically have small vote margins and vote for candidates from both major political parties over time. In the last nine elections, 20 states have “swung” from one party to the other at least twice. And 26 states were won by less than three points in at least one presidential election. What are the current swing states?Six states that voted for Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 swung to Republican Donald Trump in 2024. These states were Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. All but Nevada also swung from Republican to Democratic in 2020. Tight margins may also indicate a swing state — a narrow race could mean a state has a better chance of swinging in future elections. In 2024, five states were won by a margin of three percentage points or less: Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
May 14, 2025How many immigrants are in the United States?
About 47.8 million immigrants in 2023. This represents approximately 14.3% of the population, or about 1 in 7 residents in the United States. Immigrants are defined as foreign-born residents. This includes people who became US citizens, are authorized to come to the US (e.g., for work), or are undocumented residents.
Updates annuallyAAPI Demographics: Data on Asian American ethnicities, geography, income, and education
There are 25.8 million Asian Americans living in the US, making up 7.7% of the population. Among them, 3.6 million identify as Asian in combination with another race.Asian Americans are sometimes grouped with Pacific Islanders under the “AAPI” umbrella, and the joint Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage month is celebrated annually in May. The AAPI population is the fastest growing racial group in the US, with a population that nearly doubled from 2000 to 2023.The demographics of Asian Americans vary drastically across ethnic groups. Taiwanese and Indian Americans have the highest educational and income outcomes, while Southeast Asian Americans have lower incomes and educational attainment.
Apr 25, 2025What is the income of a US household?
About $77,700 in median income in 2023. Household income is the total money received in a year — wages, pensions, investments, public assistance, and more — by everyone in a household over 15.
Updates annuallyWho are the nation’s veterans?
The population of living veterans in the US — nearly 16 million people — is both shrinking in size and growing more diverse. What is a veteran, and who is considered one? Title 38 of the United States Code defines a veteran as “a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service, and who was discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable.” The code also outlines who qualifies for veteran status beyond active duty to include service members such as reservists, members of the National Guard, cadets and midshipmen at military academies, commissioned officers outside the Armed Forces, and those in training for military service. The Department of Veteran Affairs is responsible for determining veteran status and maintaining veteran benefit eligibility. What is a protected veteran? The Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 prohibits discrimination against certain veterans. Protected veterans meet the Title 38 qualifications but are afforded additional consideration due to disability, recent discharge, participation in wartime, or service recognition.
Apr 14, 2025Six charts on the age of federal workers
The average federal worker is around 47 years old, and one out of 20 federal workers were over 65 in 2024. Of the 2.1 million full-time, permanent federal workers, over 28% were age 55 or above, according to September 2024 data from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
Apr 9, 2025What is the labor force participation rate in the US?
It was 62.3% in June 2025. The labor force participation rate measures the percent of people ages 16 and older engaged in the labor market, including those who are working or who are unemployed but actively looking for a job.
Updates monthlyWhich states have the highest and lowest life expectancy?
From 2022 to 2023, life expectancy across the United States rose from 77.5 to 78.4 years, according to final death data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).But what exactly does life expectancy mean? And how does it vary by state?
Mar 27, 2025How red or blue is your state?
In American political discourse, states are often labeled “red” for leaning towards Republican politics or “blue” for leaning Democratic. State political profiles are shaped by a host of factors — voting patterns in national elections, the party affiliations of governors and congresspeople, and state laws. Most states vote and act consistently along party lines, but some have less predictable political leanings. These states, which can “swing” to either major party in a presidential election, are sometimes called “swing states” or “purple” states. How have red and blue states voted in presidential elections? Voters in most states stick with presidential candidates from one party: In the 10 presidential elections held since 1988, 41 states stuck with candidates from the same party eight times or more. Twenty of them, along with Washington, DC, voted for the same party’s candidates in all 10 elections. Nine states — Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia — voted for each party at least three times in those nine elections, making them less consistent. Six states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — voted for different parties’ candidates in the last two elections.
Mar 27, 2025Do women live longer than men in the US?
In the United States, women are expected to outlive men by 5.3 years. This longevity gap, which was two years in 1900, grew to nearly eight around 1980 before dropping to its current level. What are the average lifespans for men and women born in the US?
Mar 21, 2025How many people are in prisons in the US?
About 1.23 million at the end of 2022, the most recent year for which data is available. This number is up 2.1% from 2021 and includes anyone under state or federal jurisdiction. Prisoners sentenced to one or more years — usually for a felony conviction — make up 96.4% of this group, and the remainder includes people who are serving shorter sentences or awaiting sentencing.
Updates annually