Not only is Maine aging, we’re now losing 20-somethings, too

The census estimate of Mainers in their 20s dropped last year for the first time since 2010 as the ranks of the retirement-aged continued to grow.

The latest detailed population estimates from the Census Bureau provide a look at the estimated population by single-year ages, up to 84 years. I’ve put those ages into larger groups below.

The latest figures show dynamics behind the steady increase in Maine’s median age, which is already the highest in the country.

From 2000 to 2014, growth in populations 60 and older was balanced out by small annual increases of people between 20 and 29. Not so in 2015, when that population decreased while the number of people in their 30s rose slightly.

Broken down to focus on the prime working age population — broadly defined as people 15-64 — that population has been on a steady decline since the 2010 census, as has the population under 14.

Maine’s population — also the whitest in the country — has continued to get slightly more diverse in census estimates as well. While the census bureau estimated the number of people over 65 of all racial groups that it tracks has grown since 2010, working age non-Hispanic white residents have had the sharpest percentage decline in population.

Overall, other racial groups have grown at a faster pace than the white population since 2010.

 

Darren Fishell

About Darren Fishell

Darren is a Portland-based reporter for the Bangor Daily News writing about the Maine economy and business. He's interested in putting economic data in context and finding the stories behind the numbers.