The U.S. Census Bureau has released a special report showing that the centenarian population in the United States grew by 50% between 2010 and 2020, rising from 53,364 to 80,139 individuals who have reached the age of 100. Although centenarians made up just two out of every 10,000 people in 2020, their growth rate surpassed that of other older adult age groups during the same period.
The “Centenarians: 2020” report provides demographic details based on data from the 2020 Census, including age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, living arrangements, and geographic distribution. The analysis compares centenarians with other segments of the older population to highlight differences.
According to the report:
– In 2020, women represented a significant majority among centenarians at nearly 79%, though this was slightly less than in 2010.
– The male centenarian population increased by more than 85% over ten years compared to about a 43% increase for females.
– While most centenarians were White and female, there was an increase in racial diversity and a higher proportion of males in this group by 2020. The share of White alone centenarians declined by around eight percentage points. However, Black or African American alone centenarians decreased as a proportion from about 12% to just over 10%.
– Regionally, the Northeast had the highest concentration of centenarians with approximately three per every ten thousand people.
– Hawaii stood out as the only state with more than four centenarians per ten thousand residents in 2020; Puerto Rico also exceeded four per ten thousand.
– No state had fewer than one centenarian per ten thousand people; Utah and Alaska were closest to this threshold.
The pattern for states with high proportions of centenarians resembled those for people aged between eighty-five and ninety-nine but differed from patterns seen among those aged sixty-five to eighty-four.
Living arrangements varied notably by gender:
– Female centenarians were much more likely than males to live alone or in group settings such as nursing homes.
– About half of male centenarians lived with others in households versus about one-third for females.
– Over a quarter of female centenarians resided in nursing homes compared to just over fourteen percent for males.
– Two-thirds of female and half of male centenarians either lived alone or in group quarters.
The report found that living with others was associated with greater racial and ethnic diversity among centenarians. Hispanic or Latino, Asian alone, and individuals categorized as “All Other Races” were most likely—over sixty percent—to live with others. In contrast, less than thirty-five percent each of White non-Hispanic and White alone centenarians lived with others; Black or African American alone fell between these groups.
No accompanying news release was issued for this report.
