Census

Age and Sex Composition: 2010

Issued May 2011

2010 Census Briefs

C2010BR-03

INTRODUCTION

Figure 1.

Focusing on a population’s

Reproduction of the Questions on Sex, Age,

age and sex composition is

and Date of Birth From the 2010 Census

one of the most basic ways to

understand population change

over time. Since Census 2000,

the population has continued

to grow older, with many

states reaching a median age

over 40 years. At the same

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census questionnaire.

time, increases in the number of men at older ages are

first 2010 Census data products to be

apparent. Understanding a population’s

released.1

age and sex composition yields insights

into changing phenomena and highlights

SEX AND AGE QUESTIONS

future social and economic challenges.

Data on the sex and age composition of

the United States and your community are

This report describes the age and sex

derived from the 2010 Census questions

composition of the United States in 2010.

on sex, age, and date of birth (Figure 1).

It is part of a series that provides an

overview of the population and housing

data collected from the 2010 Census.

It highlights analysis of age and sex at

the national level, as well as for regions,

states, and counties and for places with

populations of 100,000 or more. A comparison with Census 2000 data is also

provided, showing the changes in age and

sex composition that have taken place

over the last 10 years.

This report also provides information

about how age and sex data were collected in the 2010 Census. The data for

this report are based on the 2010 Census

Summary File 1, which is among the

The sex question remains unchanged from

the previous census. Information on the

sex of individuals is one of the few items

obtained in the original 1790 Census and

in every census since.

As with sex, information on age has been

collected since 1790. The 2010 Census

age data were derived from a two-part...