Maine’s age-65-and-older share is 22.4%, above Florida’s 21.3%. Florida nevertheless has 4,781,978 residents in this age group, compared with 310,420 in Maine. An age share and an age-group count describe different aspects of a community.
Editorial date:
· First published September 30, 2026 · Updated October 1, 2026
Data reviewed September 30, 2026; definition labels reviewed October 1,
2026 · American Public Data
A share describes composition; a count describes scale
The percentage places older residents within the ACS resident population. It supports a comparison of age composition across states of different sizes. The count supplies context for the number of residents in that age group. A state can have a high older share and a modest count, while another has a lower share and millions more older residents. Neither replaces the other in a service-planning question.
Keep the count and denominator in the same product
Both the numerator and denominator here come from the ACS 2020–2024 B01001 age table. Multiplying an ACS age percentage by July 2025 PEP population would combine a five-year survey characteristic with another product’s later total. That might look like a current age-group count, but it would be an unapproved estimate. The count display below uses the actual retained ACS source cells.
Median age summarizes something different
Maine’s median age is 44.8 years and Florida’s is 42.6 years. The median splits the age distribution into two halves; it is not the average age or the percentage above 65. A change in either the younger or older part of the distribution can affect it. The child-share selector offers another age-distribution perspective, with its own numerator.
Explore the figures behind this comparison
Change the measure or switch a percentage to its source count
. The table and download update together. The United States is a separate
benchmark; selected states are examples, rather than a complete ranking.
Residents age 65 or older as a share of all residents. Reference period: 2020–2024. Age composition alone does not measure service needs, disability, or demand for healthcare.
Residents age 65 and older·
2020–2024· U.S. Census
Bureau
Source counts and periods come from snapshot apd-2026-10-01-r3. Derived percentage
uncertainty is not calculated; direct margins of error remain in the
indicator download.
Age does not directly measure a service requirement
Residents age 65 and older have varied health, work, housing and transport circumstances. The age-group count is not a count of people needing nursing care, receiving benefits or unable to drive. Planning for those services requires validated measures of eligibility, utilization, capacity and accessibility. An aggregate age figure cannot assign needs or characteristics to an individual.
County context can change the planning picture
A state-level age share conceals variation among counties and county equivalents. A service area can also cross county lines. Use a compatible geographic definition for the population served rather than assuming a hospital, transit network or benefits office covers a county exactly. Related county profiles retain the full survey period and the appropriate boundary labels.
Reproduce the demographic statement
Use “residents age 65 and older,” the exact ACS period and the state name in a report. Include the estimated count when the scale matters and the percentage when the composition matters. Derived share uncertainty has not been calculated in this release; median age retains its direct published margin of error. The table keeps these statuses distinct and does not manufacture an aging trend from one five-year snapshot.
Source tables and calculation record
Original producer: U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2024 five-year detailed tables, describing 2020–2024.
Website data snapshot: apd-2026-10-01-r3. The article arithmetic uses retained
observations and documented indicator definitions; displayed percentages
are rounded, while exports preserve their underlying precision.
Census comparison guidance
explains why source product and sampling uncertainty belong in a survey
comparison.
Population Estimates Program documentation
explains the estimate framework and vintage revisions. The article
examples do not imply household-level links between separate state
totals.
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