U.S. Population

The U.S. population is growing by nearly 3 million people each year. This is due more to immigration than births. By the end of 2020, there will be 327 million Americans.

Population density

The U.S. has an area of 9.6 km2. It includes the land and water surface.

There were 325.4 million citizens or 34 people/km2 in the state at the end of 2020.

Europe is more densely populated. Austria and France have more than 100 inhabitants per square kilometer, while Germany and Great Britain have more than 200. Indexes are lower only in the Scandinavian countries: about 20 people/km2.

In Russia it is only 8 people/km2.

Unevenness in territory

The eastern part of the United States which is adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean is densely populated: from 100 people per square kilometer.

These are the continuous agglomerations of Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Washington which make up the Boswash metropolitan area of over 40 million people.

Chipitts is another metropolis near the Great Lakes, with 35 million people.

Sansan is the western metropolis. It is located between San Francisco and San Diego. Its population is 20 million people.

A narrow strip of the west coast, bounded by the Cordilleras, makes up the industrial zone, where the concentration of inhabitants reaches up to 88 people/km2.

The Central Plains is home to about 20 people/km2.

Alaska has a minimum density of 0.5 persons/km2.

States

The most populated states (in millions of people):

• California - 37.
• Texas - 25.
• New York - 19.
• Florida - 18.
• Illinois - 12.
• Pennsylvania 12.
• Ohio, 11.

Rhode Island has the smallest number of residents, 105,000.

Slightly more (500,000-700,000 people) live in the following states:

• Vermont;
• North Dakota;
• Wyoming;
• Alaska.

The states with the highest population density (in people/km2) are:

• Washington, D.C. - 3.78,000.
• New Jersey - 455.
• Rhode Island - 386.
• Massachusetts - 307.

Cities

The largest cities (in millions of people):

• New York - 8.
• Los Angeles - 3.
• Chicago - 2.
• Houston - 2.

There are 1 million people each in the following cities:

• Philadelphia;
• Phoenix;
• San Antonia;
• San Diego;
• Dallas;
• San Jose.

82% of Americans are urban.

Nationalities and races of the United States

The ethnic makeup is diverse. There are people of all races and nations of the world.

Caucasians predominate (72%), followed by African Americans (12%) and Asians (4%). The rest consider themselves to be other or mixed races.

Nationalities

The British represent the greatest number of nationalities: 23%. The Germans are in second place: 10%. The Italians make up 5%, the Poles and the French 3% each, the Chinese and the Scandinavians 1% each.

But kinship ties are so diverse that often no one but the citizen himself can determine the national roots of a particular citizen.

A special category

Natives of Spain and the countries inhabited by the countrymen of Christopher Columbus formed a separate sector of the population, which is divided into two parts:

• Hispanics.

They are 50 million in all. They now represent 16% of the population. But it's increasing every year. The natural increase in this category of the population is the highest in the country.

Among the people who identify themselves as Hispanic, there are:

• white;
• Hawaiian;
• Asians;
• Eskimos;
• Native Americans;
• blacks.

White people retain an advantage: 30 million.

Demographics

In the 21st century, the U.S. population grew at an annual rate of 0.75%. By the end of 2016 there were 325.5 million registered residents. Of these, 164.8 million are women and 160.7 million are men.

The increase is due to:

• Birth rate - 1.4 million people;
• Migration: 1.0 million people.

If the trend continues, there will be 2.4 million more Americans in 2017, which equals 327.9 million people.

At the end of 2016, the age categories were distributed as follows:

• Children under 15 - 20.1 percent of citizens: 33.4 million boys, 32.0 million girls.
• Elderly people over 65 - 13.1%: 18.4 million men, 24, 3 million women.
• Working-age population from 16 to 64 years old - 66.8%: 108.5 million men, 108.9 million women.

This picture is typical of developed countries. They have low mortality rates and high life expectancy.

To determine the burden of the disabled population on society, the coefficient of demographic burden serves. To get it, they divide the sum of the numbers of the first two categories (108 million) by the number of people in the third category (217 million). In the U.S. the ratio is 49.7%. This is a good result, as it creates a weak burden on working-age citizens. Globally, the ratio reached 53%.

A low ratio means that the state can allocate more money for education, social protection, and health care.

Americans live to 76 years old, American women live to 81.

The average life expectancy of the U.S. population has reached 78 years. Globally, the rate is lower: 71 years.

The data are from the UN (Department of Economic and Social Affairs).