U.S. Census Bureau · 1950–2024
Each generation's share of the United States over 74 years. Switch between the whole population and the voting-age population — everyone 18 and older — to see how the country's electorate has turned over. Drag the year, click a generation to isolate it, or press play to watch the country age in real time.
| Generation | 1950 | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2020 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greatest & earlier | 69.0 | 53.0 | 36.0 | 24.0 | 15.0 | 8.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Silent | 22.0 | 21.0 | 20.0 | 19.0 | 17.0 | 14.0 | 11.0 | 7.0 | 5.0 |
| Baby Boomers | 9.0 | 26.0 | 37.0 | 32.0 | 30.0 | 27.0 | 24.0 | 21.0 | 19.0 |
| Gen X | — | — | 7.0 | 22.0 | 22.0 | 21.0 | 20.0 | 19.0 | 19.0 |
| Millennials | — | — | — | 3.0 | 16.0 | 22.0 | 22.0 | 22.0 | 22.0 |
| Gen Z | — | — | — | — | — | 8.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 |
| Gen Alpha | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 10.0 | 14.6 |
Sources & method. Population counts for 2000, 2010 and 2020 are from the decennial U.S. Census (Census briefs C2010BR-03 and C2020BR-06/07). Counts for 1950–1990 are derived from the U.S. Standard Population age distributions published by NCI/SEER, which are built on Census Bureau data. The 2024 figure is a calibrated estimate — a cohort-survival projection from the 2020 census, adjusted to the Census Bureau's Vintage 2024 national controls (total population 340.1M, median age 39.1). Years between anchor points are linearly interpolated for the slider. Generation boundaries follow the Pew Research Center definitions: Silent 1928–45, Baby Boomers 1946–64, Gen X 1965–80, Millennials 1981–96, Gen Z 1997–2012, Gen Alpha 2013–. Voting-age population follows the Census Bureau definition of all U.S. residents 18 and older; within each generation the 18+ share is interpolated linearly from its birth-year range. Note this is an age measure, not a count of eligible voters: the 18+ population also includes non-citizens, and the legal voting age was 21 in most states until the 26th Amendment in 1971.