The Oldest and Youngest States in America
America is aging, but not at the same speed everywhere. The median resident of Maine is 44.8 years old. The median resident of Utah is 32.0. That is a gap of nearly 13 years between two states in the same country. Below is every state ranked by median age, oldest to youngest, from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Every state ranked by median age
| Rank | State | Median age |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maine | 44.8 |
| 2 | New Hampshire | 43.3 |
| 3 | Vermont | 43.1 |
| 4 | West Virginia | 42.7 |
| 5 | Florida | 42.6 |
| 6 | Delaware | 41.6 |
| 7 | Connecticut | 41.1 |
| 8 | Hawaii | 40.9 |
| 9 | Pennsylvania | 40.9 |
| 10 | Rhode Island | 40.6 |
| 11 | Montana | 40.4 |
| 12 | Oregon | 40.4 |
| 13 | South Carolina | 40.2 |
| 14 | Wisconsin | 40.2 |
| 15 | Michigan | 40.2 |
| 16 | New Jersey | 40.1 |
| 17 | Massachusetts | 40.0 |
| 18 | New York | 39.8 |
| 19 | Ohio | 39.7 |
| 20 | New Mexico | 39.4 |
| 21 | Maryland | 39.4 |
| 22 | Alabama | 39.3 |
| 23 | Wyoming | 39.1 |
| 24 | Nevada | 39.1 |
| 25 | Kentucky | 39.1 |
| 26 | North Carolina | 39.1 |
| 27 | Missouri | 39.0 |
| 28 | Arizona | 39.0 |
| 29 | Virginia | 39.0 |
| 30 | Illinois | 39.0 |
| 31 | Tennessee | 38.9 |
| 32 | Minnesota | 38.8 |
| 33 | Mississippi | 38.6 |
| 34 | Iowa | 38.6 |
| 35 | Arkansas | 38.5 |
| 36 | Washington | 38.3 |
| 37 | Indiana | 38.1 |
| 38 | South Dakota | 38.0 |
| 39 | Louisiana | 38.0 |
| 40 | California | 37.9 |
| 41 | Colorado | 37.7 |
| 42 | Georgia | 37.6 |
| 43 | Kansas | 37.4 |
| 44 | Idaho | 37.3 |
| 45 | Nebraska | 37.2 |
| 46 | Oklahoma | 37.0 |
| 47 | North Dakota | 35.9 |
| 48 | Alaska | 35.8 |
| 49 | Texas | 35.6 |
| 50 | District of Columbia | 34.9 |
| 51 | Utah | 32.0 |
The oldest states
Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont are old for the same set of reasons. They are largely rural, birth rates are low, and young people leave for work in other states. Maine has been at or near the top of this list for years. Florida is fifth at 42.6 and got there the other way, by importing older people looking to retire. West Virginia has both problems at once. Young people leave and few newcomers arrive.
The youngest states
Utah is the youngest state at 32.0 and it has the highest birth rate in the country. The rest of the young states are a mix of remote location and fast-growing ones: Texas at 35.6, then Alaska, North Dakota, and Georgia. These are places that pull in working-age adults, and working-age adults bring children along with them.
Schools, pensions, and the tax base
Older states spend more on health care and pensions, and they collect that money from a smaller working-age population. Younger states have to build more schools and housing instead. Both are expensive. We covered the national version of this in America's record median age.
The full rankings are at oldest states and youngest states. There is a city-level version too, in the oldest and youngest cities in America.
Sources
Figures are median age from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, most recent release. Full rankings: oldest states and youngest states.
Durable Goods Orders Rose 0.3% in June According to the Census Bureau
New orders for durable goods hit $334.8 billion in June, up just 0.3 percent. But transportation orders fell off a cliff in May and stayed down, and everything else has risen three months straight.
The Most Ethnically Diverse Neighborhoods in America
Jamaica Estates-Holliswood in Queens is 28% Asian, 23% Black, 22% White, and 17% Hispanic, the most even split of any neighborhood we map. Here are the 12 most diverse neighborhoods across 100 cities.
The Most Common Last Name in America Depends on Who You Ask
Smith leads nationally, but ask group by group and the answer changes almost completely: Williams among Black Americans, Garcia among Hispanic Americans, Nguyen among Asian Americans. Census surname data shows which names belong most to one group.
What is the oldest state in America?
Maine has the highest median age of any state at 44.8 years, followed by New Hampshire (43.3) and Vermont (43.1). Florida ranks fifth at 42.6, driven by retirees rather than a rural, aging-in-place population.
What is the youngest state in America?
Utah is the youngest state with a median age of 32.0, the result of the highest birth rate in the country. Texas (35.6), Alaska, and North Dakota follow among the youngest.
Why are some states so much older than others?
Two forces drive it. Rural states like Maine and West Virginia age because young people leave and birth rates are low. Florida ages because it imports retirees. Younger states are those with high birth rates, like Utah, or fast in-migration of working-age adults, like Texas.
