U.S. Population: The Basics

(AmeriStat, August 2001) In 2000, there were approximately 281 million people living in the United States: 72 million children, 174 million working-age adults (18-64), and 35 million persons ages 65 and over. The U.S. population was 69.1 percent white, 12.1 percent black, 12.5 percent Hispanic, 3.7 percent Asian and Pacific Islander, 0.7 percent American Indian, and 0.2 percent "Some other race." Another 1.6 percent of the population (about 4.6 million people) identified with two or more races.  

Between 1990 and 2000, about 33 million people were added to the U.S. population. Hispanics were the fastest growing racial/ethnic group, adding almost 13 million people to the population over this period.

Resident Population of the U.S. by Age, Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Region
	1990		2000
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Total population	248,709,873	100.0	281,421,906	100.0
Under age 18	63,604,432	25.6	72,293,812	25.7
Ages 18 to 64	153,863,610	61.9	174,136,341	61.9
Ages 65 and over	31,241,831	12.6	34,991,753	12.4
Males	121,239,418	48.7	138,053,563	49.1
Females	127,470,455	51.3	143,368,343	50.9
White, non-Hispanic*	188,128,296	75.6	194,552,774	69.1
Black, non-Hispanic*	29,216,293	11.7	33,947,837	12.1
Hispanic	22,354,059	9.0	35,305,818	12.5
Asian, non-Hispanic*	6,968,359	2.8	10,476,678	3.7
American Indian, non-Hispanic*	1,793,773	0.7	2,068,883	0.7
Some other race, non-Hispanic*	249,093	0.1	467,770	0.2
Two or more races, non-Hispanic	N/A	N/A	4,602,146	1.6

N/A=Not Available.
*For 2000, excludes people who identified with two or more races.

Citations

U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) Summary File for States, Tables PL1, PL2, PL3, and PL4, accessed at www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t1.html (August 17, 2001); U.S. Census Bureau, "Table DP-1. Profile of General Demographic Characteristics for the United States: 2000," accessed at www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/tables/dp_us_2000.xls (August 17, 2001); and U.S. Census Bureau, "Table DP-1. Profile of General Demographic Characteristics for the United States: 1990," accessed at www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/tables/dp_us_1990.xls (August 17, 2001).

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