Millennials are now the majority in the U.S.
You may have missed the official announcement this year, but Millennials have overtaken Baby Boomers as the country’s largest generation.
US Census Bureau population estimates put Millennials (age 18–34) at 75.4 million in the U.S. while Baby Boomers (age 51–69) at 74.9 million.
It’s kind of a natural progression. As populations age, people naturally will die and fewer older immigrants are added to the population. The Baby Boomer population actually peaked in 1999 with 78.8 million and has been slowly declining ever since.
Millennials in the U.S. are different than previous generations. Before you say, I already knew that, here are some facts you may not know. It is an incredibly diverse group.
- 15% are foreign born
- 24% speak a language other than English at home
- 42.8% are minorities (a drop of roughly 25% since 1980)
As a group, Millennials are more educated, but earn less, and are employed less than those aged 18–34 in the past.
- More live with their parents (30%)
- More live in poverty (19.7%)
- More are unmarried (65.9%)
- They are less likely to be veterans
Charts from US Census Bureau
