Blog Post

By Mallory Bateman and Emily Harris

Note: The opinions expressed are those of the author alone and do not reflect an institutional position of the Gardner Institute. We hope the opinions shared contribute to the marketplace of ideas and help people as they formulate their own INFORMED DECISIONS™.

The wait is over!* The Census Bureau released the long-awaited 2020 Demographic and Housing characteristics file today, providing detailed insights into the age, race, Hispanic Origin, households, and housing units of the United States population. This data provides a baseline that our team and countless others will use to inform their work for the rest of this decade.

In our initial look at the data, Utah popped in the national picture in several ways:

• We maintain the claim as the youngest state in the nation, with a median age of 31.3. Nationally, the median age was 38.8.
• Utah had the 13^th highest homeownership rate.
• Utah had the highest share of households with 5 or more residents (20.4%) and the smallest share of single-person households (19.6%)
• Utah had the highest share of households with children under age 18 in the nation, at 39.7%

You can learn more about our initial findings at the state and county level in this Fact Sheet. Some of these additional insights include the span of median age by race and share of household types. Throughout the summer, our team will release a Utah-focused data tool and products providing a deeper dive into the data.

This is a big release – this information is available for the nation, states, counties, cities, and smaller Census Bureau statistical geographies. Thankfully, the Census Bureau has lots of resources for people to interact with the data. Some of the options include:

• Data– Data is available for download from census.gov with a guide to popular tables and a tutorial on how to access the data.
• Visualizations – Exploring Age Groups in the 2020 Census, 2020 Census Demographic Data Map Viewer , and How Has Our Nation’s Population Changed?
• America Counts Stories, with insights into various topics – An Aging U.S. Population With Fewer Children in 2020 , 2020 Census: 1 in 6 People in the United States Were 65 and Over , Hispanic Population Is Younger But Aging Faster Than Non-Hispanic Population , Family Households Still the Majority , Share of U.S. Coupled Households Declined in 2020 , and See a Vacant Home? It May Not be For Sale or Rent

*For those looking for even more detail, including more details into racial and ethnic groups, person/household related statistics, and American Indian and Alaska Native tribes, you will have to wait for the Detailed Demographic Housing Characteristics file. That file is scheduled for release in September 2023.

Mallory Bateman is the director of demographic research at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.

Emily Harris is a senior demographer at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.