Median age by state

Oldest states: northern New England leads

Maine has the highest median age in the country, 45.1 years in 2025: half of its residents were older than that and half younger. Vermont (44.6 years) and New Hampshire (44.2 years) come next. Their margins of error overlap, so the survey cannot say which of the two is older; both rank between 2nd and 3rd. West Virginia (43.5 years) and Florida (43.1 years¹) complete the five oldest.

Maine45.1 ±0.2

Vermont44.6 ±0.3

New Hampshire44.2 ±0.3

West Virginia43.5 ±0.3

Florida43.1 ±0.1

Hawaii42.4 ±0.3

Delaware42.2 ±0.3

Connecticut41.6 ±0.3

Wyoming41.5 ±0.4

Pennsylvania41.4 ±0.1

United States39.5 ±0.1

Source: Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates, 2025, table B01002. Whiskers show the 90% margin of error; states whose whiskers overlap may not differ significantly. Period: 2025.

Show the numbers

State	Median age	MOE
Maine	45.1	±0.2
Vermont	44.6	±0.3
New Hampshire	44.2	±0.3
West Virginia	43.5	±0.3
Florida	43.1	±0.1
Hawaii	42.4	±0.3
Delaware	42.2	±0.3
Connecticut	41.6	±0.3
Wyoming	41.5	±0.4
Pennsylvania	41.4	±0.1
United States	39.5	±0.1

Florida is not the oldest state. Its median age is 3.6 years above the US figure (39.5 years)¹, but three New England states and West Virginia are older. Florida stands out more on the number of older residents than on their share: it has 5,346,788 people 65 and older, the 2nd most of any state after California, and its share of them (22.8%) is tied for 4th highest, level with Delaware².

Youngest states: two kinds of young

Utah is the youngest state by a wide margin, at 32.6 years (±0.2 years), 6.9 years below the US figure (39.5 years) and younger than every bordering state (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming). Behind it come the District of Columbia (35.0 years), Texas (36.2 years), Alaska (37.0 years) and North Dakota (37.4 years¹).

Utah and the District reach a low median age in opposite ways. Utah is young because it has many children: it has the highest share of residents under 18 in the nation (26.1%), and its fertility rate of 1.80 births per woman in 2024 was tied for 5th highest³. The District has few children (17.9% under 18) and few older residents (13.6% aged 65 and older); instead it has the highest share of working-age adults (18 to 64 years old) in the nation (68.5%). Texas sits between the two, with the 2nd highest share of children (24.0%²).

Every state ranked

Region by region

The Northeast is the oldest region from top to bottom. Its youngest state, New York, has a median age of 39.8 years, which is still 0.3 years above the US figure (39.5 years)¹. Every other state in the region is older.

The West holds both extremes of the table. Hawaii is the oldest Western state (42.4 years), with Wyoming (41.5 years), Oregon (41.3 years) and Montana (41.0 years) also above the national figure. Utah¹ and Alaska are the two youngest states in the region.

The South spans the widest range, from West Virginia (43.5 years) to the District of Columbia (35.0 years). The Midwest is the most compact: from Wisconsin (41.3 years) down to North Dakota (37.4 years¹).

Twenty years of aging, and two exceptions

The national median age rose from 36.4 years in 2005 to 39.5 years in 2025. Almost every state followed: Utah went from 28.5 years to 32.6 years, Maine from 41.2 years to 45.1 years⁵.

MaineUtahNorth DakotaDistrict of ColumbiaUnited States

Source: Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates, 2005-2019 and 2021-2025. ACS 1-year estimates; no standard 1-year release for 2020. Shaded band: 90% margin of error.

Show the numbers

Year	Maine	Utah	North Dakota	District of Columbia	United States
2005	41.2 ±0.2	28.5 ±0.1	39.1 ±0.3	35.9 ±0.2	36.4 ±0.2
2006	41.0 ±0.2	28.4 ±0.1	37.1 ±0.4	35.0 ±0.1	36.4 ±0.2
2007	41.7 ±0.2	28.4 ±0.1	37.1 ±0.3	34.9 ±0.1	36.7 ±0.1
2008	41.9 ±0.2	28.7 ±0.2	37.0 ±0.4	34.9 ±0.2	36.9 ±0.1
2009	42.2 ±0.2	28.9 ±0.1	37.0 ±0.3	35.1 ±0.1	36.8 ±0.1
2010	42.7 ±0.3	29.2 ±0.2	37.4 ±0.3	33.9 ±0.2	37.2 ±0.1
2011	43.2 ±0.2	29.6 ±0.2	36.6 ±0.3	33.4 ±0.2	37.3 ±0.1
2012	43.5 ±0.2	29.9 ±0.1	36.2 ±0.3	33.7 ±0.2	37.4 ±0.1
2013	44.0 ±0.2	30.2 ±0.1	35.5 ±0.2	33.8 ±0.2	37.5 ±0.1
2014	44.1 ±0.2	30.5 ±0.1	35.1 ±0.2	33.8 ±0.2	37.7 ±0.1
2015	44.6 ±0.2	30.6 ±0.1	34.9 ±0.3	33.8 ±0.2	37.8 ±0.1
2016	44.5 ±0.2	30.7 ±0.1	35.0 ±0.3	33.9 ±0.2	37.9 ±0.1
2017	44.6 ±0.2	31.0 ±0.2	35.4 ±0.3	34.0 ±0.2	38.1 ±0.1
2018	45.1 ±0.2	31.0 ±0.2	35.4 ±0.3	33.9 ±0.2	38.2 ±0.2
2019	45.1 ±0.1	31.2 ±0.2	35.5 ±0.3	34.3 ±0.2	38.5 ±0.1
2021	44.7 ±0.2	31.8 ±0.2	35.8 ±0.4	34.8 ±0.1	38.8 ±0.1
2022	45.1 ±0.2	32.1 ±0.2	36.2 ±0.3	34.9 ±0.1	39.0 ±0.1
2023	44.9 ±0.2	32.3 ±0.2	36.3 ±0.3	34.9 ±0.1	39.2 ±0.1
2024	44.9 ±0.2	32.5 ±0.1	36.7 ±0.4	34.9 ±0.1	39.2 ±0.1
2025	45.1 ±0.2	32.6 ±0.2	37.4 ±0.5	35.0 ±0.1	39.5 ±0.1

Only two places are younger now than in 2005. North Dakota's median age is down from 39.1 years in 2005; it fell to 34.9 years in 2015 before rising again. The District of Columbia is down from 35.9 years in 2005, after a low of 33.4 years⁵ in 2011.

Between 2024 and 2025 the national median moved up from 39.2 years in 2024. Most states rose with it; in Wyoming the median went up from 40.2 years in 2024 to 41.5 years. New York was the only state with a statistically significant fall, down from 40.1 years in 2024¹. Maine, the District, Utah and several others did not change by more than the survey can detect.

The series has no 2020 point. The Census Bureau did not release its standard 1-year estimates for 2020 because the pandemic disrupted data collection.

Women are older than men

Across the country the median age of women was 40.8 years in 2025 and that of men 38.2 years. The gap holds in the oldest state as well: in Maine the median woman was 46.6 years and the median man 43.8 years. In Utah, the youngest state, the figures were 33.3 years for women and 31.9 years¹ for men.

How to read the ranking

• The middle of the table is a statistical tie. 27 states are significantly older than the nation and 15, counting DC, are significantly younger. The rest cannot be told apart from the US figure: Arizona, Minnesota, Tennessee and Virginia all show 39.5 years. The rank range column gives the places each state could hold; Illinois, for example, ranks between 23rd and 34th.
• Two sources, nearly the same answer. The main figure is from the American Community Survey, a sample survey with margins of error. The table also shows a median we computed from the Census Bureau's population estimates for July 1, 2025 (39.4 years for the US). The two agree within a few tenths of a year in most states and give the same oldest and youngest states. They differ most in Wyoming (40.2 years in the estimates, 41.5 years in the survey) and North Dakota (36.5 years² against 37.4 years¹).
• Median, not average. The median is the middle age when everyone is lined up from youngest to oldest. It is not pulled up by a few very old residents the way an average would be.
• A single number hides the shape. Two states with the same median can have very different shares of children and of older residents. The older population and child population rankings show those shares directly.