Demographics of the United States
Current demographics of the United States
Population:
The U.S. population for July 2002 was estimated by the Census Bureau to be 288,368,698, a 2.47% increase over the July 2000 estimate of 281,421,906. The U.S. population more than tripled during the 20th century, a growth rate of about 1.3% a year, having been about 76 million in 1900.
The following is a list of the ten most populous cities in the country, with their estimates for 2002 and 2000. The trend column indicates whether the city is growing (+) or shrinking (-), based on the two estimates.
| Rank | Trend | City | July 2002 estimate | July 2000 estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | + | New York City, New York | 8,084,316 | 8,008,278 |
| 2. | + | Los Angeles, California | 3,798,981 | 3,694,820 |
| 3. | - | Chicago, Illinois | 2,886,251 | 2,896,016 |
| 4. | + | Houston, Texas | 2,009,834 | 1,953,631 |
| 5. | - | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 1,492,231 | 1,517,550 |
| 6. | + | Phoenix, Arizona | 1,371,960 | 1,321,045 |
| 7. | + | San Diego, California | 1,259,532 | 1,223,400 |
| 8. | + | Dallas, Texas | 1,211,467 | 1,118,580 |
| 9. | - | Detroit, Michigan | 925,051 | 951,270 |
| 10. | + | San Jose, California | 900,443 | 894,943 |
City rankings by metropolitan area are also available.
The most densely populated state is New Jersey (372/sq.km).
Age structure: (2000 est.)
- 0-14 years: 21.25% (male 29,956,875; female 28,597,880)
- 15-64 years: 66.11% (male 90,345,154; female 91,827,471)
- 65 years and over: 12.64% (male 14,472,865; female 20,362,428)
Population growth rate: 0.91% (2000 est.)
Birth rate: 14.2 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Death rate: 8.7 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Net migration rate: 3.5 migrants/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Sex ratios: (2000 est.)
- at birth: 1.05 males/female
- under 15 years: 1.05 males/female
- 15-64 years: 0.98 male/female
- 65 years and over: 0.71 male/female
- total population: 0.96 male/female
Infant mortality rate: 6.82 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)
Life expectancy: (2000 est.)
- total population: 77.12 years
- male: 74.24 years
- female: 79.9 years
Total fertility rate: 2.06 children born/woman (2000 est.)
- white 75.1%,
- black 12.3%,
- Asian 3.6%,
- Amerindian 0.9%,
- Two or more races 2.4%,
- other 5.5% (2000)
- Hispanic or Latino 12.5%;
A separate listing for Hispanic is not included because the Census Bureau considers Hispanic to mean a person of Latin American descent (especially of Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto Rican origin) who may be of any race or ethnic group.
The Census Bureau's definition of "white" is not the definition most widely used by the US people as a whole. Most Americans define "white" to exclude all Hispanics, even those of European descent. Using that definition, the white proportion of the US population is 69.1%.
Religious beliefs: (2001 American Religious Identification Survey)
| Protestant | 52% |
| Catholic | 24.5% |
| None | 13.2% |
| Jewish | 1.3% |
| Muslim | 0.5% |
| Buddhist | 0.5% |
| Agnostic | 0.5% |
| Atheist | 0.4% |
| Hindu | 0.4% |
| Unitarian Universalist | 0.3% |
| Pagan | 0.07% |
| Wiccan | 0.06% |
| Spiritualist | 0.06% |
| Native American | 0.05% |
Others less than 100,000 adherents or unclassified. 5.4% refused to respond to the question.
Of the religious groups, an average of 54% reported being member of a church, temple, synagogue or mosque, with widely varying percentages, from 83% for evengelical to 19% for those of no religion.
Literacy: (age 15 and over can read and write, 1979 est.)
- total population: 97%
- male: 97%
- female: 97%