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U.S. Median Age at New High, 32.3, as Baby Boomers Mature

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From Associated Press

Statistically speaking, Americans are growing older, with the median age in the United States reaching a record 32.3 years, the Census Bureau reported Wednesday.

That means half of all the people living in the country were older than 32.3 years, as of last July 1. This is up from the median age of 32.1 a year earlier.

By states, the oldest Americans are in Florida and the youngest in Utah, with Nebraska and North Carolina in the middle.

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The maturing of the massive baby boom generation, born in the years following World War II, is raising the nation’s median age, census officials and other analysts have noted.

This group forms the largest segment of the population and as it ages the median age is pulled along, Census demographer Ed Byerly said.

After years of climbing gradually as life spans increased, the median age reached 30 for the first time in the 1950 census, when it was 30.2 years.

But then the full force of children from the baby boom pulled the median down for two decades.

In 1980, the median edged back up to 30 again and has continued climbing, as the baby boomers pursued careers and education and postponed having families, creating what some statisticians call a baby bust.

Florida remains the state with the oldest population, with a median age of 36.4 years, up from 36.3 years in 1987.

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Following Florida, the highest median ages were reported for the large industrial states in the Northeast, with New Jersey second at 34.5 years, followed by Connecticut and Pennsylvania at 34.4.

The Northeast has the highest median age of the four regions at 33.9 years. Next is the Midwest at 32.3--same as the national figure--followed by the South, 32, and the West, 31.6.

The state with the youngest residents remains Utah, where half of the population is under 25.7 years. Next lowest is Alaska, with a median figure of 28.7 years.

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