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Danielle Kurtzleben
The country is becoming older, more diverse, better educated, and more economically unequal
1. (Slowing) Growth
The most obvious and constant change to the U.S. population is growth. But 2010 census numbers show that population growth had dropped to 9.7 percent, its lowest level since the Great Depression. The U.S. growth rate has also lagged behind world population growth over the last decade. The 2010 census put the population at 308,745,538, up from 281,421,906 in 2000. The estimated world population of nearly 6.9 billion, meanwhile, is up 12.5 percent from 2000. However, U.S. growth remains ahead of many other developed nations, particularly European countries, whose populations may actually decline between now and 2050.
2. Moving West and South
U.S. population growth shows marked regional differences. While the West and South saw growth rates of 13.8 and 14.3 percent, respectively, over the last decade, the Midwest grew only by 3.9 percent, and the Northeast by a mere 3.2 percent. These figures reflect a movement of young people westward, as well as an immigrant population settling heavily in the south and west. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, the state with the largest share of foreign-born residents is California, with 26.9 percent. Another western state, Montana, posted the largest increase of foreign-born people over the last decade, with a 60.9 percent jump. The mean center of U.S. population has moved steadily westward and slightly southward since the first census, in 1790. Since that time, it has slowly shifted from Kent County, Maryland, to Plato, a town in southern Missouri.
3. Aging
The estimated population median age in 2009 was 36.8, up from 35.3 in 2000 -- a natural consequence of 77 million baby boomers pulling that figure upward with every passing year. The birth rate has also been relatively flat since the 1970s, and in 2009 posted the largest two-year drop in over 30 years, according to the
4. Becoming More Diverse (...and particularly, more Hispanic)
The white, non-Hispanic segment of the population is steadily shrinking, and has dropped from 69.1 percent in 2000 to 63.7 percent in 2010.
5. Increasing Income Inequality
Income inequality in the United States has increased more or less steadily. As of 2009, the top 20 percent of households in the U.S. earned 50.3 percent of all household income, according to the
6. More Women with Diplomas
The U.S. population is getting more educated as a whole, with 87 percent of adults 25 and older having high school diplomas in 2010 -- up from 84 percent in 2000. But women in particular are helping to drive America's growing educational attainment.
7. Waiting to Procreate
An increasing number of those educated women are putting off childbearing. According to the
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The Disappearing Center: Engaged Citizens, Polarization, and American Democracy
The Virtues of Mendacity: On Lying in Politics
Bush on the Home Front: Domestic Policy Triumphs and Setbacks
The Political Fix: Changing the Game of American Democracy, from the Grassroots to the White House
Courage Grows Strong at the Wound
WORLD | AFRICA | ASIA | EUROPE | LATIN AMERICA | MIDDLE EAST | UNITED STATES | ECONOMICS | EDUCATION | ENVIRONMENT | FOREIGN POLICY | POLITICS
7 Ways the United States Population is Changing