In 2024, Millennials were the largest generation group in the United States, making up about 21.81 percent of the population. However, Generation Z was not far behind, with Gen Z accounting for around 20.81 percent of the population in that year.

Millennials were the largest generation group in the United States in 2024, with an estimated population of ***** million. Born between 1981 and 1996, Millennials recently surpassed Baby Boomers as the biggest group, and they will continue to be a major part of the population for many years. The rise of Generation Alpha Generation Alpha is the most recent to have been named, and many group members will not be able to remember a time before smartphones and social media. As of 2024, the oldest Generation Alpha members were still only aging into adolescents. However, the group already makes up around ***** percent of the U.S. population, and they are said to be the most racially and ethnically diverse of all the generation groups. Boomers vs. Millennials The number of Baby Boomers, whose generation was defined by the boom in births following the Second World War, has fallen by around ***** million since 2010. However, they remain the second-largest generation group, and aging Boomers are contributing to steady increases in the median age of the population. Meanwhile, the Millennial generation continues to grow, and one reason for this is the increasing number of young immigrants arriving in the United States.

In 2023, there were approximately ***** million millennials in the United Kingdom, making it the largest generational cohort at that time. Millennials surpassed the Baby Boomer generation as the largest generation for the first time in 2019. The two youngest generations, Gen Z and Gen Alpha, numbered approximately **** million, and *** million respectively. Gen X are, as of the most recent year, the second-largest generation in the UK at ***** million people, with their parent's generation, the Silent Generation, numbering around *** million people in the same year. There were estimated to be ****** people who belonged to the Greatest Generation, the parents of the Baby Boomer generation, who lived through major events such as the Great Depression and World War Two. Post-War Baby Boom The baby boomer generation was the largest generation for much of this period due to the spike in births that happened after the Second World War. In 1947, for example, there were over *** million live births in the United Kingdom, compared with just ******* live births just thirty years later in 1977. Members of this generation are typically the parents of millennials, and were the driving force behind the countercultural movement of the 1960s, due to their large numbers relative to older generations at the time. The next generational cohort after Boomers are Generation X, born between 1965 and 1980. This generation had fewer members than the Boomer generation for most of its existence, and only became larger than it in 2021. Millennials and Gen Z As of 2022, the most common single year of age in the United Kingdom in 2020 was 34, with approximately ******* people this age. Furthermore, people aged between 30 and 34 were the most numerous age group in this year, at approximately 4.67 million people. As of 2022, people in this age group were Millennials, the large generation who came of age in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Many members of this generation entered the workforce following the 2008 financial crash, and suffered through high levels of unemployment during the early 2010s. The generation that followed Millennials, Generation Z, have also experienced tough socio-economic conditions recently, with key formative years dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and an increasingly unstable geopolitical situation.

About this dataset

Context

The dataset tabulates the United States population distribution across 18 age groups. It lists the population in each age group along with the percentage population relative of the total population for United States. The dataset can be utilized to understand the population distribution of United States by age. For example, using this dataset, we can identify the largest age group in United States.

Key observations

The largest age group in United States was for the group of age 25-29 years with a population of 22,854,328 (6.93%), according to the 2021 American Community Survey. At the same time, the smallest age group in United States was the 80-84 years with a population of 5,932,196 (1.80%). Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2017-2021 5-Year Estimates.

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2017-2021 5-Year Estimates.

Age groups:

• Under 5 years
• 5 to 9 years
• 10 to 14 years
• 15 to 19 years
• 20 to 24 years
• 25 to 29 years
• 30 to 34 years
• 35 to 39 years
• 40 to 44 years
• 45 to 49 years
• 50 to 54 years
• 55 to 59 years
• 60 to 64 years
• 65 to 69 years
• 70 to 74 years
• 75 to 79 years
• 80 to 84 years
• 85 years and over

Variables / Data Columns

• Age Group: This column displays the age group in consideration
• Population: The population for the specific age group in the United States is shown in this column.
• % of Total Population: This column displays the population of each age group as a proportion of United States total population. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

Recommended for further research

This dataset is a part of the main dataset for United States Population by Age. You can refer the same here

As of 2021, Millennials and Baby Boomers made up an equal share of the Australian population at around 21.5 percent each, making them the largest generational groups at the time. Those aged 75 years and over made up the smallest portion of the population, followed by Gen Alpha, or those aged 0 to 9 years at the time.

In the first quarter of 2024, 51.8 percent of the total wealth in the United States was owned by members of the baby boomer generation. In comparison, millennials own around 9.4 percent of total wealth in the U.S. In terms of population distribution, there is almost an equal share of millennials and baby boomers in the United States.

Comprehensive comparison of Generation Time (Seconds) vs. Price by Model

Across all generations in Germany, it seemed that having good friends and close relationships was very important to people. Around ** percent of Generation Y also said that it was important to them to have fun and enjoy life. The figures are based on a survey conducted in Germany regarding respondents' values and attitudes to life. The Allensbach Market and Advertising Media Analysis (Allensbach Markt- und Werbeträgeranalyse or AWA in German) determines attitudes, consumer habits and media usage of the population in Germany on a broad statistical basis. Generational differences The largest generations in Germany are Generation Y (also known as Millennials) and Generation X. Each generation has different defining characteristics, for example, Gen Z grew up with technology and are often characterized as being especially worried about their future. Millennials were the first generation to experience the transition from an analogue into a digital world whilst they were growing up and are therefore sometimes referred to as digital natives. Another large difference between generations is political allegiance. Die Grünen (the German Green Party) was especially popular among Generation Z. Whilst with Generation Y and Generation X, the CDU and SPD had stronger support. Leisure activities Although there are some differences there are also many similarities between generations. When it comes to leisure activities, for example, shopping, eating out, and photography were enjoyed by all. As expected, however, there are also some differences. Computer games and going clubbing were mostly undertaken by Gen Z, whilst hiking was a more common pastime among Gen X. In general, some of the most popular hobbies in Germany included socializing, cooking/baking, as well as various types of outdoor activities. In contrast, the most common ways for people in the U.S. to spend their free time included cooking, reading, and spending time with pets. This highlights that it is not just the generation in which one grows up that influences hobbies, world views and core values, but also the immediate environment in which one spends time.

As of February 2025, India had a total of 413.85 million Instagram users, the largest Instagram audience in the world. The United States had 171.7 million users, and Brazil had 140.7 million. Indonesia, Turkey, and Japan ranked in fourth, fifth and sixth position, respectively. Kazakhstan is the leading country for Instagram audience reach, with 86.2 percent of the population using the social media service. Turkey came in second, with a penetration rate of 85.5 percent and Uruguay ranked third, with 87.1 percent, followed closely by the UAE, Brazil, and Bahrain. It took Instagram 11.2 years to reach the milestone of 2 billion monthly active users worldwide. WhatsApp, also owned by Meta, took 11 years, whilst Facebook took 13.3 years and YouTube took just over 14 years. Instagram’s demographics in the United States As of March 2025, Instagram was the fourth most visited social media service in the United States, after Facebook, Pinterest and X. Out of TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, TikTok was the most used of all three platforms by Generation Z. Overall, 57 percent of Gen Z social media users used Instagram in 2021, down from 61 percent in 2020 and 64 percent in 2019. Instagram finds most popularity with those in the 25 to 34 year age group, and as of January 2025, roughly 28.3 of all users in the United States belonged to this age group. The social media app was also more likely to be used by women. Most followed accounts on Instagram Instagram’s official account had the most followers as of April 2024 with over 672 million followers. Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) had over 628 million followers on the platform, while the Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi (@leomessi) had over 502 million followers. The Instagram accounts of the American singer and actress Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) and the media personality and makeup mogul Kylie Jenner (@kyliejenner) had over 400 million followers each.

Globally, about 25 percent of the population is under 15 years of age and 10 percent is over 65 years of age. Africa has the youngest population worldwide. In Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 40 percent of the population is below 15 years, and only three percent are above 65, indicating the low life expectancy in several of the countries. In Europe, on the other hand, a higher share of the population is above 65 years than the population under 15 years. Fertility rates The high share of children and youth in Africa is connected to the high fertility rates on the continent. For instance, South Sudan and Niger have the highest population growth rates globally. However, about 50 percent of the world’s population live in countries with low fertility, where women have less than 2.1 children. Some countries in Europe, like Latvia and Lithuania, have experienced a population decline of one percent, and in the Cook Islands, it is even above two percent. In Europe, the majority of the population was previously working-aged adults with few dependents, but this trend is expected to reverse soon, and it is predicted that by 2050, the older population will outnumber the young in many developed countries. Growing global population As of 2025, there are 8.1 billion people living on the planet, and this is expected to reach more than nine billion before 2040. Moreover, the global population is expected to reach 10 billions around 2060, before slowing and then even falling slightly by 2100. As the population growth rates indicate, a significant share of the population increase will happen in Africa.

As of 2023, Baby Boomers made up ** percent of the United States Senate, and **** percent of the United States House of Representatives. Millennial members made up considerably less of the ***** U.S. Congress, representing **** percent of the House of Representatives and three percent of the Senate.

As of June 2025, 24.2 percent of Facebook users in the United States were aged between 25 and 34 years, making up Facebook’s largest audience in the country. Overall, almost 19 percent of users belonged to the 18 to 24-year age group. Does everyone in the U.S. use Facebook? In 2024, there were approximately 250 million Facebook users in the U.S., a figure which is projected to steadily increase, and reach 262.8 million by 2028. Social media users in the United States have a very high awareness of the social media giant. Expectedly, 94 percent of users had heard of the brand in 2025. Although the vast majority of U.S. social networkers knew of Facebook, the likeability of the platform was not so impressive at 68 percent. Nonetheless, usage, loyalty, and buzz around the brand remained relatively high. Facebook, Meta, and the metaverse A strategic rebranding from Facebook to Meta Platforms in late 2021 boded well for the company in Mark Zuckerberg’s attempt to be strongly linked to the metaverse, and to be considered more than just a social media company. According to a survey conducted in the U.S. in early 2022, Meta Platforms is the brand that Americans most associated with the metaverse.  

According to a survey among internet users conducted in Vietnam in the fourth quarter of 2023, YouTube was the leading app for streaming music among Generation Z, as stated by ** percent of the respondents. The homegrown app Zing ranked third among the list, with ** percent of the respondents having listened to music using this app. Music streaming in Vietnam Movie and music streaming was the most popular online activity among Vietnam’s highly connected population in 2022. As reported in the third quarter of 2023, the share of internet users who used music streaming services reached approximately **** percent. On average, one spent a little over an hour listening to streamed music daily in the country. In general, the music streaming sector in Vietnam has been recording a growing revenue in recent years, and its revenue was forecasted to reach nearly ** million U.S. dollars by 2027. YouTube as a go-to streaming platform among Vietnamese people As many streaming service users in Vietnam still preferred using a free platform instead of paying for an ad-free experience, YouTube has been the top-of-mind platform when it comes to streaming, whether it is music, movies, or short video streaming. Over ** percent of adult viewers in the country reported watching YouTube content for at least an hour per day. Meanwhile, paid on-demand platforms have been on the rise among the youngest generation of internet users. For instance, Netflix, FPT Play, and Spotify have gradually claimed their spots among the most used streaming services by Vietnam's Generation Z.

Over the past 10 years, the number of people with an immigrant background living in Norway increased. Whereas nearly 1.1 million people with an immigrant background lived in Norway in 2014, this number had increased to nearly 1.5 million as of 2024. Of these, first generation immigrants was, by far, the largest group, counting 930,000 people. The second largest group was people born in Norway with one parent born abroad, followed by inhabitants born in Norway with two parents born abroad. Immigration to the Nordics Norway is not the only Nordic country with increasing immigration. Immigration has increased in each Nordic country from 2000 and onwards, with Sweden leading immigration until being taken over by Denmark in 2022. Sweden has taken in a comparatively high number of refugees, but most immigrants to the Nordics are from other European countries, such as in Finland. Population challenges in the Nordics Over time, the fertility rate has declined in each Nordic country, and as of 2022, Iceland had the highest fertility rate in the region with only 1.6 children born per woman. Moreover, those aged 70 and older are increasingly making up larger portions of Nordic societies. These factors combined can create challenges as there are less workers available, making immigration an important factor in the Nordic labor markets.

In the Pakistan, the male population aged between 20 and 24 amounted to about **** percent of the total male population in 2023. In contrast, the male population aged between 20 and 24 in Hong Kong amounted to about *** percent of the total male population in 2023. The female Gen Z population in the Asia-Pacific region took up a smaller share among the female population overall compared to their male counterparts.

As of June 2025, **** percent of Instagram users in the United States were aged between 25 and 34 years, making up the platform’s largest audience in the country. Overall, the group with the second-highest usage was those aged 18 to 24 years, with **** percent of users, followed by **** percent that were aged 35 to 44 years. The age group that used Instagram the least was those older than 65 years, making up *** percent of users, respectively. Popular social media platforms in the United States Instagram was the fourth most visited social media platform in the United States as of March 2025 across desktop, mobile, and tablet devices combined, accounting for *** percent of all social media visits in the country. Despite Instagram’s popularity, Facebook remained the leading social media platform by far in the U.S., accounting for more than ** percent of all social media visits. Pinterest and X (formerly Twitter) ranked second and third in terms of visits, with ***** percent and ***** percent of visits, respectively. Instagram’s global audience Instagram’s global popularity continues to surge, with no signs of slowing down. As of January 2025, the country with the largest Instagram audience was India with ****** million users, while the United States had the second-highest market with ***** million users, followed by Brazil, Indonesia, and Turkey, respectively. As of February 2025, Instagram was the third most popular social network globally, reaching *** billion monthly active users.

In 2021, ** percent of baby boomers preferred in-store shopping, while only ** percent chose online shopping as their primary method of buying. Many millennials and Generation Z shoppers also opted for in-store shopping but showed a way greater interest in hybrid buying methods, at a rate of ** and ** percent, respectively. Favorite brands among young shoppers When comparing male and female Generation Z shoppers in terms of brand preferences in the United States, it was apparent that both groups enjoyed many of the same household names. For instance, brands such as Amazon, Walmart, YouTube, and Netflix appeared on both lists, making them some of the generation’s most popular brands. That said, preferences were far from identical: more Gen Z women liked Doritos, Oreo, and KitKat, while a higher number of Gen Z men had a favorable opinion of Gatorade, PlayStation, and Nike. Sustainable considerations Climate change is a hot topic and is on many consumers’ minds in recent years. As such, a considerable share of people in the United States, and around the world, have started taking up more sustainable habits. For example, many have adapted their shopping and consumption behavior: according to a survey conducted in early 2022, more than half of consumers worldwide planned to avoid buying new goods for sustainability reasons, perhaps intending to buy secondhand or repair the goods they already owned instead.

As of 2023, China was the largest producer of electricity globally by a significant margin with over *** petawatt-hours generated, followed by the United States with *** petawatt-hours. Both countries generated a considerable amount more than the next highest producer, India, where almost *** petawatt-hours were produced. Coal and natural gas remain the primary sources of energy worldwide, maintaining a high global reliance on fossil-based fuels. For instance, natural gas was the largest source of electricity generation in the U.S. in 2023, followed by renewables.

Global expansion of electricity networks Energy networks have been undergoing expansion and modernization to tackle challenges such as the climate crisis and a growing global population through electrification. As a result of this, there has been significant growth in electricity access, with almost *** million more people gaining access to energy networks worldwide in 2022, of which ** million were in Central and Southern Asia. With increased electricity access, a growth in electricity production will become necessary.

Transitioning towards renewables Use of both coal and renewable electricity has grown worldwide, particularly in the European Union and China, where the largest year-on-year change in coal and renewable generation was recorded in 2023. As part of its increase in power generation, China has the largest share of clean electricity capacity installed by country worldwide, amounting to approximately **** terawatts.

According to a survey among internet users conducted in Vietnam by Decision Lab in the third quarter of 2023, Facebook was the leading social media platform among all generations. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese platform Zalo was the second most-used channel among the surveyed respondents. TikTok was most popular among Gen Z, with over ** percent of respondents from this generation confirmed using this platform. Social media platforms in Vietnam Vietnam was among the countries with the highest number of social media users worldwide. The tech giant Meta dominated the social media landscape in the country, especially among Gen Y. Being the only Vietnamese brand among the top five, messaging app Zalo was the second most-used social media platform, just behind Facebook. Meanwhile, TikTok has recently emerged as one of the networks with the highest growth in user numbers in Vietnam, slowly gaining its spot among the leading platforms. The rise of TikTok among Gen Z in Vietnam TikTok is particularly popular among Gen Z globally, and Vietnamese members of this generation were no different. The share of TikTok users among Gen Z in Vietnam has been growing fast, reaching over ** percent of the internet users within this age group. Although this platform has yet to surpass Facebook as the number one social media app, it ranked first among the leading social media apps for watching short videos among Vietnamese Gen Z as of the second quarter of 2023.

In 2022, YouTube was the most popular brand among Generation Z consumers in the United States. During a survey, ***** percent of responding zoomers said they had a favorable opinion of the brand. Google, Netlfix, and Amazon also scored a favorability level of over ** percent. Favorite brands among other generations in the U.S. Zoomers and millennials in the United States liked many of the same branded products and services. In 2021, over ** percent of millennial consumers said Apple and Amazon were their favorite brands, making them the most popular two. For this generation, Nike ranked third instead of first. Baby boomers, on the other hand, were fond of some of the same brands, but were also big fans of others, such as Kraft, Levi’s, and Chevrolet. Generation population As of July 2020, there were approximately ** million people in the United States that qualified as being part of Generation Z, i.e., those that were born between 1997 and 2012. This equates to roughly ** percent of the entire U.S. population. At over ** million each, the millennial and baby boomer generations were the most populous generations in the country.