The U.S. Census Bureau released a report showing that the number of centenarians in the United States grew by 50% between 2010 and 2020, rising from 53,364 to 80,139. Although centenarians—people aged 100 or older—make up a small portion of the population at just two out of every 10,000 people, their growth rate surpassed that of other older adult age groups during this period.
The report offers an updated profile of centenarians based on data from the 2020 Census. It examines factors such as age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, living arrangements, and geographic distribution.
In terms of gender composition, women continued to make up the majority of centenarians in 2020 at nearly 79%, though this was a slight decrease from almost 83% in 2010. The male centenarian population saw more rapid growth than females over the decade: “Between 2010 and 2020, the male centenarian population grew by 85.3% versus a 42.9% increase for female centenarians.”
The group also became somewhat more racially diverse over time. There was about an eight percentage-point decline in the share of White alone centenarians since 2010; however, this shift was less pronounced than among Americans under age 65. Black or African American alone centenarians were an exception to broader diversity trends: “The percentage of centenarians who were Black or African American alone declined from 12.2% in 2010 to 10.3% in 2020.”
Regionally, differences emerged across states and territories. The Northeast had the highest proportion with approximately three per every ten thousand residents being centenarian; Hawaii led all states with more than four per ten thousand (4.44), while Puerto Rico also exceeded four per ten thousand (4.14). Utah and Alaska had among the lowest proportions but still reported more than one per ten thousand residents.
Living arrangements varied notably by gender and race/ethnicity among those aged at least one hundred years old in America as of census day: “In 2020, female centenarians lived alone without familiar household members to a much greater extent than male centenarians.” About half (49.7%) of male centenarians lived with others compared to only about one-third (33.8%) for females.
Nursing home residency rates were higher for women: “Among centenarians, 27.6% of females were living in a nursing home, while only 14.2% of males were living in a nursing home.” This meant that two-thirds (66.2%) of female centenarians either lived alone or in group quarters settings such as nursing homes versus about half (50.3%) for men.
Racial and ethnic diversity was most apparent among those living with others within households rather than those residing alone or in institutional settings like nursing homes: “Centenarian living arrangement with notably more racial and ethnic diversity in 2020 was ‘living with others in a household,’ while … nursing homes and ‘living alone’ … had least racial and ethnic diversity.” Hispanic or Latino and Asian American seniors aged one hundred-plus were especially likely to live with others; White non-Hispanic counterparts tended not to do so.
No state reported fewer than one centenarian per ten thousand residents according to census figures from April 1st of 2020.
