Silver Book Fact
Older population growth between 1950 and 2004
From 1950 to 2004, the total U.S. resident population grew from 150 million to 294 million–an annual growth rate of 1%. During that same time, the 65 and older population grew twice as rapidly–increasing from 12 million to 36 million. The 75 and older population grew close to 3% faster than the total population, increasing from 4 million to 18 million.