Nationally, there were 217.8 million people age 18 and over; 35.9 million people age 65 and over; and 53.3 million children ages 5 to 17 as of July 1, 2003, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

     The estimates are provided for each state and broken down by a variety of specific age groups. Highlights follow:

Adult Population (18+ population)

• California had the highest number of adult residents (26.1 million) in 2003, followed by Texas (15.9 million), New York (14.7 million), Florida (13.1 million) and Pennsylvania (9.5 million). (See Table 1. [Excel | PDF])
• California added the highest number of adult residents since 2000 (1.4 million), followed by Texas (913,000), Florida (759,000), and Georgia and New York (371,000 each). Nationally, 8.6 million adult residents were added. (See Table 2. [Excel | PDF])

Older Population (65+ population)

• California had the highest number of people 65 and over (3.8 million) in 2003, followed by Florida (2.9 million), New York (2.5 million), Texas (2.2 million) and Pennsylvania (1.9 million). (See Table 3. [Excel | PDF])

• California added the highest number of people 65 and over (169,000) between 2000 and 2003, followed by Texas (103,000), Florida (90,000) and North Carolina and Arizona (47,000 each). Nationally, this age group showed an increase of 927,000 people. (See Table 4. [Excel | PDF])

Elementary School-Age Children (5- to 13-year-olds)

• Utah and Alaska are, in many respects, the nation’s youngest states. In 2003, Utah and Alaska had the highest proportion of their population in the 5-to-13 age group (15 percent each). Texas, Arizona, California and Idaho (14 percent each) followed. The national average was 13 percent.
• California had the highest total of elementary school-age children (4.8 million) in 2003, followed by Texas (3.1 million), New York (2.3 million), Florida (2.0 million) and Illinois (1.6 million). Nationally, there were 36.8 million children in this age group.
• Only 14 states experienced an increase in their elementary school-age population between 2000 and 2003. Texas (125,000), Florida (88,000) and Arizona (66,000) — the latter two, traditionally, thought of as retirement havens — led the way. North Carolina (36,000) and Nevada (35,000) followed. Nationally, the total of elementary school-age children declined by 274,000.
• Nevada, at 13 percent, led the nation in the rate of increase in the elementary school-age population from 2000 to 2003. Arizona (10 percent), Florida (5 percent), and Texas, North Carolina and Utah (4 percent each) followed. Nationally, the number of children of these ages declined by 1 percent.

• More than half the states experienced an increase in their high school-age population between 2000 and 2003, led by California (97,000), Florida (81,000), Texas (46,000), North Carolina (37,000) and New Jersey (34,000). Nationally, the increase was 429,000.

• California had the highest number of high school-age children (2.1 million) in 2003, followed by Texas (1.3 million), New York (1.0 million), Florida (900,000) and Illinois (714,000). The total nationally was 16.5 million.
• Alaska and Utah had the highest percentages of high school-age population (7 percent each) among all states in 2003. They were followed by New Mexico, Idaho, South Dakota, Wyoming, Texas, Louisiana, Montana and Mississippi (each with 6 percent or more). Nationally, 6 percent of the population fell in this age group.

Total Population

• California (35.5 million) was the nation’s most populous state in 2003, followed by Texas (22.1 million), New York (19.2 million), Florida (17.0 million) and Illinois (12.7 million).
• California (1.6 million), Texas (1.3 million) and Florida (1.0 million) each added 1 million or more people between 2000 and 2003. Next, were Georgia (498,000) and Arizona (450,000).
• Nevada (12 percent), Arizona (9 percent), Florida (7 percent), and Georgia and Texas (6 percent each) experienced the highest rates of growth over the period 2000 to 2003.

     The Census Bureau develops state population estimates using administrative records in "a demographic-change model." The method follows each birth cohort according to its exposure to mortality, fertility and migration. It estimates population change from the most recent census using data on births, deaths and migration.

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