The Generations in 2018

Generational power continues to shift, according to a Demo Memo analysis of the Census Bureau's 2018 population estimates by single-year of age. Older generations are dying off, while younger generations are gaining because of immigration and, for the Recession generation, births.

Between 2010 and 2018, Baby Boomers lost nearly 5 million of their peers, a 6 percent decline in the size of the generation. The number in the older Swing generation fell by 5 million, a 21 percent decline. The World War II generation (the oldest) lost more than 8 million members—a 60 percent decline since 2010. Gen Xers saw their ranks fall by 319,000 during those years.

Meanwhile, the number of Millennials grew by almost 3 million between 2010 and 2018, thanks to immigration. The iGeneration grew by nearly 2 million. The generations that follow Millennials now slightly outnumber Boomers and older Americans—99.3 million versus 99.1 million.

Size of generations in 2018 (and % of total population)
327,167,434 (100.0%): Total population
  35,950,639 (11.0%): Recession generation (aged 0 to 8)
  63,371,829 (19.4%): iGeneration (aged 9 to 23)
  79,812,607 (24.4%): Millennial generation (aged 24 to 41)  
  48,922,963 (15.0%): Generation X (aged 42 to 53)  
  72,562,397 (22.2%): Baby Boom generation (aged 54 to 72)  
  20,935,756 (  6.4%): Swing generation (aged 73 to 85)  
    5,611,243 (  1.7%): World War II generation (aged 86-plus)

Note: The Recession generation was born in 2010 or later; the iGeneration was born from 1995 through 2009; the Millennial generation was born from 1977 through 1994; Generation X was born from 1965 through 1976; the Baby-Boom generation was born from 1946 through 1964; the Swing generation was born from 1933 through 1945; the WW II generation was born in 1932 or earlier.

Source: Census Bureau, National Population by Characteristics: 2010–2018