07 April 2008
Population: USA Facts
General statistics about the U.S. population
(The following information is taken from the U.S. Department of State publication, USA Map with Facts in Brief.)
POPULATION
Citizenship
With very few exceptions, persons who are born in the United States become American citizens regardless of their ethnic backgrounds or of the citizenship and national origins of their parents. In this respect, the United States differs from many other countries that do not automatically confer citizenship on persons merely on the basis of birth within their national jurisdictions. Open acceptance has characterized the American nationality process since the nation's founding, despite changes to laws and regulations over the years.
General Statistics (2007)
Total Population: 302,503,635. Male: 48.9%. Female: 50.8%. Population Density: 31.8 persons per square kilometer. Population Distribution: 80% urban, 20% rural. Annual Growth Rate: 0.9%. Median Age: 35.3.
U.S. Households (2006)
Number of Households: 104,705,000. Persons per Household: 2.62. Persons per Family: 3.17.
Life Expectancy at Birth for Americans Born in 2006
White males – 73.8 years. White females – 79.6 years. Non-white males – 68.9 years. Non-white females – 76.1 years.
Population by Age (2006)
0-18 years – 25.0%. 19-44 years – 37.0%. 45-64 years – 22.0%. 65 years and over – 12.4% (2004).
Population by Race (2004)
White – 80.4%. Black – 12.8%. Asian, Pacific Islander – 4.2%. Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander – 0.2%. American Indian, Aleut – 1.0%. Hispanic or Latino origin – 14.1%. [Note: Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race].
Health Care (2006)
84.5% of population covered by private or government health insurance, 254 physicians per 100,000 people, 5,890 hospitals, 3.6 beds per 1,000 people, 39.1 million people covered by Medicare, health insurance provided by the federal government primarily for people age 65 and older.
Immigrant Population
Legal immigrants (2004) – 946,000. Illegal immigrants – Between 6 million and 9 million estimated to be in the United States in 2006.
Visitors to the United States
48,491,000 international visitors in 2006.
Adoption
Number of immigrant visas issued to orphans coming to the United States for adoption in 2003, up from 7,377 a decade earlier. The leading sources of these orphans are China and Russia – 21,616. Percentage of European-born adopted children under six who are from Russia or Romania – 82%. 1.7 million households contain adopted children. These households comprise 4% of all households in which the householder has children.
Older Persons
36.8 million. The number of people 65 and older in the United States on July 1, 2005. This age group accounted for 12 percent of the total population. Between 2004 and 2005, this age group increased by 457,000 persons.
Our Aging Nation
Number of people 65 or older. 1967: 19.1 million 2005: 36.8 million.
Education
Percentage of the population 25 or older who had at least a high school diploma. 1967: 51%. 2005: 85%.
Singleness
100 million. Number of unmarried and single Americans. This group comprises 44 percent of all U.S. residents age 15 and over.
Jobs
Americans work in a wide variety of occupations. Here is a sampling: Gaming services workers (gambling) – 98,000. Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists – 738,000. Chefs and head cooks – 317,000. Firefighters – 243,000. Musicians, singers, and related workers – 213,000. Bakers – 183,000. Taxi drivers and chauffeurs – 291,000. Service station attendants – 100,000. Farmers and ranchers – 827,000. Pharmacists – 248,000. Teachers – 6.8 million. [Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2007].
Number of civilian employees of the federal government (2005) – 2.7 million. Number of self-employed workers (2005) – 10.5 million. The number of people who work at home (2005) – 5 million.
Top Five Religious Denominations in the United States
1. Roman Catholic Church (69 million) 2. Southern Baptist Convention (16.3 million) 3. United Methodist Church (8 million) 4. Mormon Church (Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) (5,599,000) 5. Church of God in Christ (5.5 million). [Source: Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, 2007]
Did you know?
The first census of the United States was authorized by act of Congress on March 1, 1790, "providing for the enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States." The U.S. population was 80 million in 1902 and 298 million+ on Census Day, April 1, 2006. In 1803, the United States paid France $15 million for the Louisiana Territory – 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River. The lands acquired stretched from the Mississippi to the Rockies and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border. The Louisiana Purchase nearly doubled the size of the United States and contained area from which all or part of 13 states were eventually carved.
