The answer is older than at any point in recorded history — more and more of the patients we care for are older adults.
It sounds like a simple question: how old are we, as a population — all of us, together? The answer turns out to be older than at any point in recorded history, and the number is still climbing.
The forces behind the shift are worldwide and simple to name. Families are smaller than they used to be — the global fertility rate has more than halved since the 1960s, from over five children per woman to about 2.3 today (Our World in Data / UN World Population Prospects 2024) — and people are living longer.
The picture in the United States
- Americans are living longer. US life expectancy at birth rose from 69.7 years in 1960 to 79.7 by 2017, and is projected to reach 85.6 years by 2060. (US Census Bureau)
- Older adults are increasing in percentage. The 65-and-older population is projected to grow from 58 million in 2022 (17% of the population) to 82 million by 2050 (23%) (estimates range from about 22% to 23%, depending on which US Census projection series is used) — a 42% increase (Population Reference Bureau) — passing 1 in 5 Americans by 2030, as the last baby boomers turn 65 (US Census projections).
- In much of the country, older adults already outnumber children. As of 2024, that is true in 11 states — up from just 3 in 2020 — and in nearly 45% of all US counties. (US Census Bureau, 2024)
- The country is older than it has ever been. The US median age has reached a record 39.1 years, up from 30.0 in 1980. (US Census Bureau, 2024)
- The oldest group is growing fastest of all. The 85-and-older population — about 6.5 million in 2022 — is projected to more than double to 13.7 million by 2040. (Administration for Community Living / Census projections)
- And its share of the population is rising. The 85-and-older group is set to climb from 2.6% of the country in 2030 to 4.8% by 2050. (US Census Bureau, Population Projections for 2020 to 2060)
Living longer is not the same as living well
- Healthy years have slipped. By the World Health Organization’s measure of years lived in good health, US healthy life expectancy at birth actually fell — from 65.3 years in 2000 to 63.9 in 2021 — even as total life expectancy rose. It is among the lowest of any high-income country. Americans are living longer, but spending more of those added years in poor health. (World Health Organization)
Not enough specialists to keep up
- The US has only a fraction of the geriatricians it needs. In 2016, there were about 7,400 geriatricians — down from over 10,000 in 2000 — meeting only about a third of the roughly 20,000 the American Geriatrics Society estimated were needed. The number has barely grown since, and the Society projects the need will reach 30,000 by 2030 — widening the shortfall from about 12,000 to more than 22,000. (American Geriatrics Society, 2016; KFF Health News, 2023)
I’ve written more about why we need geriatric expertise more than ever — and why caring well for older adults is becoming everyone’s job.
Numbers like these are easy to skim past. But every one of them is a person who will, at some stage, need care from someone — and more and more often, that someone will not be a geriatrician.
That is what this demographic shift really asks of us. Not alarm, but preparation — clinicians in every field who understand how aging changes the body, the risks, and the goals of care. So, how old are we, as a population? Older than we have ever been, and still getting older. The sooner we build the skills to meet that, the better the care will be for all of us who get there.
Reviewed and updated by Dr. Derya Ozkok, August 2026.
