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The median age of the U.S. population continued to rise, from 35.3 years on April 1, 2000, to 35.9 years on July 1, 2003. The median of 39.6 years for non-Hispanic whites reporting only one race was the highest, while that of Hispanics, 26.7 years, was the lowest of all groups except the two-or-more-races population.
One of the most striking characteristics of the older population is the change in the ratio of men to women as people age. In 2002, 26.6 million men and 33.0 million women in the civilian noninstitutionalized population were aged 55 and over, yielding a sex ratio (men per 100 women) of 81. The sex ratio drops steadily with age. In the 55-to-64 age group, the sex ratio was 92, and in the age group 85 years and over, the sex ratio was 46.
Living arrangements and marital status of the older population differ considerably between men and women as they age. In 2002, among people 55 years and over, men were more likely than women to be married and living with their spouse (74 percent and 50 percent, respectively).
Because women have longer life expectancies than men, it is not surprising that 31 percent of women and only 9 percent of men aged 55 and over were widowed. With increasing age, the proportions of women who were widowed rose rapidly: 10 percent of women 55 to 64, 41 percent of women 65 to 84, and 79 percent of women 85 and over.
Older people were much less likely to have moved than younger people, although, among the older population, the oldest old had the highest mobility. Most older people did not move between 1995 and 2000. Among the 34.7 million people aged 65 and over who lived in the United States in 1995 and in 2000, only 7.9 million lived in a different residence at the end of the 5-year period. In contrast, people 5 to 64 years old in 2000 were more than twice as likely as the older population to have moved during the same 5-year period (47.7 percent compared with 22.8 percent, respectively).
Among the older population, the "oldest old," people 85 years and older in 2000, were most mobile. Between 1995 and 2000, almost one-third (32.3 percent) of the oldest old moved, which was much higher than the percentages of the movers 65 to 74 or 75 to 84 years old (21.2 percent and 21.9 percent, respectively).
Non-Hispanic Whites accounted for 69 percent of the total population in 2002; however, the proportion varied greatly with age—66 percent of the population under age 55 and 81 percent of those aged 55 and over. The percentage of non-Hispanic Whites increased with age: 79 percent for those 55 to 64, 80 percent for those 65 to 74, 86 percent for those 75 to 84, and 87 percent for those 85 and over.
High school completion rates vary among the older population. In 2002, 84 percent of people aged 55 to 64 and 71 percent of those aged 65 to 84 had completed high school, compared with only 58 percent of those 85 and over.
Among the older population, men were more likely than women to have a bachelor's degree or more education. The proportions were 31 percent and 22 percent, respectively among those 55 to 64; 22 percent and 13 percent, respectively, for those 65 to 84; and 17 percent and 12 percent, respectively for people 85 and over.
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