The U.S. Census Bureau released a special report showing that the number of centenarians in the United States increased by 50% between 2010 and 2020, rising from 53,364 to 80,139. Centenarians—those who have reached age 100—remained a small segment of the population, making up just two out of every 10,000 people in 2020.
The report analyzed demographic characteristics such as age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, living arrangements, and geographic distribution using data from the 2020 Census. It also compared centenarians with other older adult age groups to highlight their distinct features.
In terms of gender distribution, women continued to make up the majority of centenarians at nearly 79% in 2020. However, this was a slight decrease from about 83% in 2010. The male centenarian population grew more rapidly than females during this period—by over 85%, compared to nearly a 43% increase for women.
The racial makeup of centenarians became slightly more diverse by 2020. The share of White alone individuals among centenarians declined by about eight percentage points since 2010. This trend was similar to changes seen in other older adult groups but less pronounced than among those under age 65. One exception was Black or African American alone centenarians; their proportion decreased from about 12% in 2010 to just over 10% in 2020.
Geographically, the Northeast had the highest concentration of centenarians at just over three per every ten thousand people. Hawaii led all states with more than four centenarians per ten thousand residents (4.44), followed by Puerto Rico (4.14). No state had fewer than one centenarian per ten thousand people; Utah and Alaska were closest to that mark.
Living arrangements differed significantly by gender and race. Female centenarians were much more likely than males to live alone or in group quarters like nursing homes: “In 2020, female centenarians lived alone without familiar household members to a much greater extent than male centenarians.” About half of male centenarians lived with others in a household compared with only about one-third of female centenarians.
Nursing home residency was also higher among women: “Among centenarians, 27.6% of females were living in a nursing home, while only 14.2% of males were living in a nursing home.” In total, roughly two-thirds of female and half of male centenarians either lived alone or in group settings.
Racial and ethnic diversity varied across different living situations for this population: “The centenarian living arrangement with notably more racial and ethnic diversity in 2020 was ‘living with others in a household,’ while the centenarian living arrangements with the least racial and ethnic diversity were nursing homes and ‘living alone in a household.’” Hispanic or Latino, Asian alone, and “All Other Races” groups each had over sixty percent living with others; White alone non-Hispanic individuals had less than thirty-five percent doing so; Black or African American alone fell near fifty percent.
States with high proportions of residents aged eighty-five to ninety-nine tended also to have higher concentrations of those aged one hundred or older—a pattern most evident across Midwest and Northeast states rather than central U.S., where adults aged sixty-five to eighty-four are more common.
