Growing older is the hot trend sweeping the nation, according to the US Census Bureau

Richard Stradling, By David Raynor
·2 min read

We’re all getting older, both individually and, it turns out, collectively, too.

The median age of North Carolina residents last summer was 39.3, according to estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s up nearly 2 years since 2010 and 4 years since the turn of the century.

Getting older is a nationwide trend. According to the Census Bureau, the national median age — the point at which half the population is older and half is younger — has increased by 3.4 years since 2000, to 38.8.

And there’s no sign of a reversal, according to Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Census Bureau’s Population Division.

“With birth rates trending downwards and the aging of the Baby Boom and Generation X cohorts, the median age will likely continue to rise in the coming years,” Wilder said in a written statement.

The trend is fairly consistent across North Carolina, too. Only two of the state’s 100 counties — Moore and Swain — saw a drop in their median age since 2010. Even in fast-growing counties such as Wake, Durham, Johnston and Union, the median age increased by 2 or more years.

Rural counties and those in the mountains or along the coast that attract retirees have the highest median age. Coastal Brunswick County led the state at 56.3, nearly 9 years older than its median in 2010.

Brunswick is one of 12 counties, all rural, where the median age now tops 50; in 2010, there were none.

The younger counties tend to be urban or dominated by large universities or military bases. Onslow County, home of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, has the state’s youngest population, with a median of 27.1.

The state’s two largest counties have younger populations than the state or national averages, with a median of 35.7 in Mecklenburg and 37.2 in Wake.

Nationwide, Utah remains the nation’s youngest state, with a median of 31.8, though it is aging like most of the rest. The only state that saw a drop in its median age since 2020 is Maine, which remains the oldest state with a median of 44.7.