Demography of the United States

The first U.S. census, in 1790, recorded under 4 million Americans. By 2000, this number had grown to over 281 million, and is expected to reach 308 million by 2010.

The United States is an urbanized nation, with 80.6 percent of its population residing in cities and suburbs.^[1] The mean population center of the United States has consistently shifted westward and southward, with California and Texas currently the most populous states. According to Californians for Population Stabilization, U.S. population growth is now the highest among developed countries and exceeds that of China. ^[2] Births, supplemented by immigration, help to offset the aging population. The total fertility rate in the United States estimated for 2007 is 2.09, which is roughly the replacement level for industrialized countries. The total U.S. population crossed the 100 million mark around 1915, the 200 million mark in 1967, and the 300 million mark in 2006 (On Tuesday, October 17).^[3][4] The U.S. population more than tripled during the 20th century - a growth rate of about 1.3 percent a year - from about 76 million in 1900 to 281 million in 2000. This is unlike most European countries, especially Germany, Russia, Italy and Greece, whose populations are slowly declining, and whose fertility rates are below replacement.

U.S. population clock hits the 300 million mark

United States population pyramid.

Wikinews has related news:

US population reaches 300 million

According to U.S. Census Bureau's estimation for 2005, 45% of American children under the age of 5 are minorities.^[5] In 2006, the nation’s minority population reached 100.7 million. A year before, the minority population totaled 98.3 million. Hispanics accounted for almost half (1.4 million) of the national population growth of 2.9 million between July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006.^[6] In thirty-five of the country's fifty largest cities, non-Hispanic whites are or soon will be in the minority.^[7]

The United States has dozens of major cities, including 11 of the 55 global cities of all types—with three "alpha" global cities: New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The figures expressed below are for populations within city limits. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations, Census Bureau's 2005 estimates, are as follows. In historic areas that were settled very early, e.g., Boston, New Haven, etc., the boundaries were set in the 1700s and therefore the populations appear small even though, in actuality, the cities are very large.

• All metropolitan area population figures and ranks are based on the United States Census Bureau's definition of "Metropolitan Statistical Areas." However, common practice is to combine the San Jose Metropolitan Area with that of San Francisco and Oakland (i.e., the Combined Statistical Area) whose population is 7.1 million. This would affect the populations of the other metropolitan areas as well.

See also: United States metropolitan area and List of United States cities by population

Current U.S Population

The current population according to the U.S Census Bureau is 303,026,362 as of 10:03 GMT 2 October 2007. This is based on the 2000 census and national population estimates. ^[8]

Population density

2000 U.S. population density in persons per sq. mile (lower 48 states only): Light to dark (yellow to blue): 1-4 (y), 5-9 (lt. green), 10-24 (teal), 25-49 (dk. teal), 50-99 (blue-green), 100-249 (blue), 250-66,995 (black).

The most densely populated state is New Jersey (1,121/mi² or 433/km²). See List of U.S. states by population density for maps and complete statistics.

The United States Census Bureau publishes a popular "dot" map showing population distribution at a resolution of 7,500 people,^[10] as well as complete listings of population density by place name.^[11]

Racial groups

Main articles: Racial demographics of the United States and Hyphenated American

According to the Census Bureau's 2005 American Community Survey the US population is as follows:^[12]

• White alone, 74.7%, or about 215.3 million
• Black American 12.1% or 34.9 million
• Asian American (Includes people from the subcontinent and southeast Asia) 4.3% or 12.5 million,
• American Indian 0.8% or 2.4 million
• Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander 0.1% or 0.4 million
• Some other race 6% or 17.3 million
• Two or more races 1.9% or 5.6 million

Each of the above categories includes people who identify their ethnicity as Hispanic or Latino.^[13] U.S. federal law defines Hispanic to indicate any person with ancestry from a Latin American country or Spain.^[14]

• Hispanics of any race: 14.5% or about 41.9 million.^[15]

Religious affiliation

Main article: Religion in the United States

Self-Described Religious Identification of U.S. Adult Population: 1990 and 2001 [5]
All figures after adjusting for refusals to reply, which jumped from 2.3% in 1990 to 5.4% in 2001

The American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) 2001 was based on a random digit-dialed telephone survey of 50,281 American residential households in the continental U.S.A (48 states). Respondents were asked to describe themselves in terms of religion with an open-ended question. Interviewers did not prompt or offer a suggested list of potential answers. The primary question of the interview was: What is your religion, if any? The religion of the spouse/partner was also asked. If the initial answer was 'Protestant' or 'Christian' further questions were asked to probe which particular denomination.

Key findings:^[7] (Not adjusted for increase in refusals to reply)

• the proportion of the population that can be classified as Christian has declined from 86% in 1990 to 77% in 2001;
• although the number of adults who classify themselves in non-Christian religious groups has increased from about 5.8 million to about 7.7 million, the proportion of non-Christians has increased only by a very small amount - from 3.3% to about 3.7%;
• the greatest increase in absolute as well as in percentage terms has been among those adults who do not subscribe to any religious identification; their number has more than doubled from 14.3 million in 1990 to 29.4 million in 2001; their proportion has grown from just 8% of the total in 1990 to over 14% in 2001;
• there has also been a substantial increase in the number of adults who refused to reply to the question about their religious preference, from about four million or 2% in 1990 to more than eleven million or over 5% in 2001.

Other key findings:

• Nearly 20% of adults who describe themselves as atheist or agnostic also report that either they themselves or someone else in their household is a member of a church, temple, synagogue, mosque or some other religious institution.
• On the other hand, nearly 40% of respondents who identified with a religion indicated that neither they themselves nor anyone else in their household belongs to a church or some other similar institution.
• Despite the growing diversity nationally, some religious groups clearly occupy a dominant demographic position in particular states. For instance, Catholics are the majority of the population in Massachusetts and Rhode Island as are Mormons in Utah and Baptists in Mississippi. Catholics comprise over 40% of Vermont, New Mexico, New York and New Jersey, while Baptists are over 40% in a number of southern states such as South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama and Georgia.
• Historical traces of a Bible Belt in the South and a less religious West are still evident. Those with "no religion" constitute the largest "denomination" in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Wyoming. In contrast, the percentage of adults who adhere to "no religion" is below 10% in North and South Dakota, the Carolinas, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.
• Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and those with no religion continue to have a greater preference for the Democratic party over the Republican - much as they did in 1990. Evangelical or Born Again Christians and Mormons are the most apt to identify as Republicans. Buddhists and those with no religion are most likely to be political independents. In keeping with their theology, Jehovah's Witnesses disavow political involvement. Catholics, who at one point dominated the major eastern cities following immigration, formerly favored the Democratic Party, but after a century as the largest single religious group are now split roughly 50/50 between Democrats and Republicans.
• In both the 1990 and 2001 studies, the Buddhist and Muslim population appears to have the highest proportion of young adults under age thirty, and the lowest percentage of females. A number of the major Christian groups have aged since 1990, most notably the Catholics, Methodists, and Lutherans. Congregationalist/United Church of Christ and Presbyterian adherents show an older age str* ARIS2001 found that of all households that contained either a married or domestic partner couple, 22% reported a mixture of religious identification amongst the couple. At the low end there are the Mormon adults who are found in mixed religion families at 12% and such other groups as Baptists, those adhering to the Churches of Christ, Assemblies of God, the Evangelicals and those adhering to the Church of God (all at about 18%). At the high end we find the Episcopalians at 42% group shows the lowest incidence of marriage (just 19%) of all twenty-two groups. In sharp contrast, those identifying with the Assemblies of God or Evangelical/Born Again Christians show the highest proportions married, 73% and 74% respectively. The percent currently divorced or separated varies considerably less, from a low of six percent (Jehovah's Witnesses) to a high of fourteen percent (Pentecostals).
• The top three "gainers" in America's vast religious market place appear to be Evangelical Christians, those describing themselves as Non-Denominational Christians and those who profess no religion. Looking at patterns of religious change from this perspective, the evidence points as much to the rejection of faith as to the seeking of faith among American adults. Indeed, among those who previously had no religion, just 5% report current identification with one or another of the major religions.
• Women are more likely than men to describe their outlook as "religious." Older Americans are more likely than younger to describe their outlook as "religious." Black Americans are least likely to describe themselves as secular, Asian Americans are most likely to do so.
• 68% of those identifying themselves as Lutheran report church membership, while only 45% of those who describe themselves as Protestant (without a specific denominational identification) report church membership. Nearly 68% of those identifying with the Assemblies of God report church membership. Church membership is reported by 59% of Catholic adults. About 53% of adults who identify their religion as Jewish or Judaism report temple or synagogue membership. Among those calling themselves Muslim or Islamic, 62% report membership in a mosque.

Income

Main articles: Household income in the United States, Personal income in the United States, Affluence in the United States, and Income inequality in the United States

In 2006, the median household income in the United States was around $46,000. Household and personal income in the US is dependent on multiple variables such as race, number of income earners, educational attainment and maritial status.

Social class

Main article: Social class in the United States

While social classes in the US lack distinct boundaries and may overlap, they constitute the perhaps most important demographical groups. The following table provides a summarization of currently prominent academic theories on the societal stratification of American society:

Miscellaneous statistics

Historical movement of U.S. population.

Age structure: (2007 est.)

• 0–19 years: 27.4% (male 42,667,761; female 40,328,895)
• 20–64 years: 60.1% (male 89,881,041; female 90,813,578)
• 65 years and over: 12.6% (male 15,858,477; female 21,991,195)

Population growth rate: 1.00% (2007 est.)

Birth rate: 14.20 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Death rate: 8.30 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Net migration rate: 3.05 migrants/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Sex ratios: (2007 est.)

• at birth: 1.05 males/female
• under 15 years: 1.05 males/female
• 15–64 years: 1 male/female
• 65 years and over: 0.72 male/female
• total population: 0.97 male/female
• state-by-state breakdown: United States sex ratio chart

Infant mortality rate: (2007 est.)

• total population: 6.40 deaths/1,000 live births
• male: 7.00 deaths/1,000 live births
• female: 5.70 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy (source: Census Bureau, 2007):

• total population: 78.00 years
• male: 75.20 years
• female: 81.00 years

Total fertility rate: 2.09 children born/woman (2007 est.)

2.01 children born/women (2000)

1.91 children born/women (1990)

1.81 children born/women (1980)

2.48 children born/women (1970)

3.65 children born/women (1960)

3.01 children born/women (1950)

Unemployment rate (source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, May. 2007 est):

• all workers: 4.5%
• adult men: 4.0%
• adult women: 3.8%
• teenagers: 15.7%
• white: 3.9%
• African American: 8.5%
• Hispanic or Latino ethnicity: 5.8%
• Asians: 2.9%

(See List of U.S. states by unemployment rate)

Nationality

noun: American(s), US-American(s)

adjective: American, US-American

Much of the material in this section comes from the CIA World Factbook 2006.

The US population is expected to rise to 420 million in 2050 and then 571 million in 2100.

See also

• United States metropolitan area
• Household income in the United States
• Personal income in the United States
• Affluence in the United States
• Maps of American ancestries
• Languages in the United States
• Immigration to the United States
• Internet access in the United States
• Lists of U.S. cities with non-white majority populations
• Largest cities of the world
• Largest metropolitan areas in the Americas
• Highest-income places in the United States
• Lowest-income counties in the United States
• Places in the United States with notable demographic characteristics
• Demographic history of the United States
• Racial demographics of the United States
• List of U.S. cities with high transit ridership

Demographics of the United States

Demography of the United States · Demographic history Economic · Social Affluence · Educational attainment · Household income · Homeownership · Immigration · Income inequality · Language · Middle classes · Personal income · Poverty · Religion · Social class  · Unemployment by state · Wealth Race · Ethnicity · Ancestry Race and ethnicity in the United States Census · Maps of American ancestries · 2000 Census · Race/ethnicity by EEOC  · Racism Alaska Natives · Asian Americans · African Americans · Africans in the United States · Hispanics in the United States · Native Americans · Pacific Islander Americans · White Americans · European Americans

References

External links

• Our Changing Nation
• Latinos are flocking to biggest cities / Whites no longer majority in Tucson, Denver, Phoenix
• Asian-Nation: Demographics of Asian American Population
• Countdown to 300 million
• US sees ethnic minority baby boom
• Census Ancestry Map
• USA Today 2004 Election County by County Map
• BeliefNet State by State Religious Affiliation
• U.S. Census Bureau: 45 percent of children under age 5 are minorities
• Religion and Party Affiliation
• Health by State

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