Historic and Projected Patterns of Population and Household Change in the United States

Abstract

Population and household change in the United States will show future patterns of continuous growth and diversification in age, race/ethnicity and household size and form. What such change is likely to mean sociologically and economically are discussed in this chapter for the total population and for age, racial/ethnic and household groups. The United States has grown from a population of 3.9 million in 1790 to more than 308.7 million in 2010, and is projected to grow to 420.3 million by 2060. Minority population growth will increase from 12.2% nonHispanic Black in 2010 to 13.2% in 2060; from 16.3% Hispanic to 30.6%, from 7.7% nonHispanic Asian and Other to 13.6%, and from 63.8% nonHispanic White in 2010 to 42.6% in 2060. Both the population and households will age with the percent of persons 65 years of age being 13.0% in 2010 and 21.9% in 2060. The number of households will also increase form 116.7 million in 2010 to 166.2 million by 2060. During the same period, households will become smaller and more diverse with the number of single parent and unmarried persons increasing among all racial/ethnic groups. These demographic changes form critical factors for understanding the socioeconomic future of the United States.