Age and Racial/Ethnic Composition, 2014

“Millennials, or America’s youth born between 1982 and 2000, now number 83.1 million and represent more than one quarter of the nation’s population. Their size exceeds that of the 75.4 million baby boomers, according to new U.S. Census Bureau estimates released today. Overall, millennials are more diverse than the generations that preceded them, with 44.2 percent being part of a minority race or ethnic group (that is, a group other than non-Hispanic, single-race white).”

– U.S. Census Bureau

The U.S. Census Bureau’s detailed population estimates for 2014 show similar patterns in North Carolina. Individuals age 15-34 are the largest age group in the state: 2.7 million individuals or 27% of the state’s total population were between the ages of 15 and 34 in 2014. The Baby Boomers were the second largest age group in 2014, with 2.4 million or 24% of the state’s total population in 2014.

In 2014, nearly two-thirds (64%) of the state’s population was non-Hispanic white, 21% was black, 9% Hispanic, 3% Asian or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 1% American Indian, and 2% of two or more races. In North Carolina, as in the nation, diversity is greatest among the youngest age groups. Among individuals under 15, nearly 1 in 2 (47%) were part of a minority race or ethnic group in 2014. Individuals of two or more races have the highest proportion in the under 15 population (4%), reflecting increasing rates of interracial marriage and childbearing as the overall population diversifies.