Here are the oldest and youngest places in America, in one map
- Age distributions vary widely across different parts of the US.
- Using data from the Census Bureau, we found the US counties with the highest and lowest median ages.
Some parts of America have older populations than others.
The US Census Bureau's American Community Survey asks millions of US households each year several questions about their economic, social, and demographic characteristics. One of the basic demographic questions on the survey asks the age of each person in the household.
Pooling together responses to that question over the five-year period between 2012 and 2016, the Census Bureau published estimates of the median age of the residents of each of the United States' 3,142 counties and county-equivalents.
Some areas, like much of Florida and the Upper midwest, have much higher median ages than the rest of the country. Meanwhile, states like Alaska and Utah tend to be younger than other areas.
Four of the top ten youngest counties are cities in Virginia, which are counted separately from their surrounding counties in that state.
And the oldest county in America is Sumter County, Florida, where the median age is 66.
