With little surprise to anyone here, the blush of youth still colors Utah more than any other state in the nation, while Florida is getting grayer and grayer as the nation's most elderly state.
According to U.S. Census Bureau figures released Tuesday, Utah has the youngest median age at 26.3 years with only a blip of change since the 1990 Census when the median age was 26.2. That's more than a decade younger than Florida's median age of 37.2.Nationally, the bureau estimated that median age of all Americans was 33.7 years of age last July 1, up from 32.8 during the census count in 1990. Longer life spans and relatively low birth rates have combined to raise the nation's median age over the years. In the Mountain West, the median age is 32.4.
Tuesday's report follows one in December that showed Utah is the fourth-fastest growing state in the nation, tied with Arizona.
According to Ed Byerly, a Census Bureau demographer in Washington, D.C., Utah leads the nation in the proportion of children in all three age categories under 17 years.
"Utah has the largest proportion in the young-age categories. There is no question," he said.
For example, 9.7 percent of Utah's population is under 5 years of age. About one-quarter of Utah's 1.86 million population is of school age, Byerly said.
"Mormons who want big families are pushing it (the median age) down in Utah. Conversely, Florida is attracting a lot of migrants, particularly retirees, making its median age the highest in the nation," he said.
While Utah's large number of children put strains on the school system, the state is also faced with a fast-growing aging population. Byerly said Utah's 65-and-older crowd had the fifth-fastest growth rate in the nation. That age group grew by 10.2 percent over the three-year period of the study.
The study shows that the fastest-growing segment of Utah's population was in the 18-24 age group. That group had a 12.4 percent increase during the past year, numbering 226,000. The slowest growth occurred in the 0-5 age group, which had a 4.5 percent change.
Utah's midlife set - age group 25-44 - are among the largest population group in the state, with 536,000 people.
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Additional Information
Old and young
The median ages of state residents.
Youngest:
1. Utah 26.3
2. Alaska 30.5
3. Texas 31.5
4. Louisiana 31.8
5. Mississippi 31.9
Oldest:
1. Florida 37.2
2. West Virginia 36.2
3. Pennsylvania 36.0
4. Connecticut 35.6
5. New Jersey 35.4
Source: U.S. Census Bureau