The United States has tracked its population by sex since the very first census in 1790, and the balance between men and women has shifted many times over the centuries. For most of the nation’s early history, men outnumbered women due to immigration patterns dominated by male workers and settlers. That balance flipped by the mid-twentieth century, and women have made up a slightly larger share of the resident population ever since. Today, the gap between the male and female population counts continues to narrow, driven by changes in life expectancy, immigration, and birth rates.
This article breaks down the US population by gender across four distinct time frames: long-term historical trends since 1950, the most recent 10 years of data, near-term current figures, and future projections out to 2060. Each section includes a dedicated data table, along with a combined table that spans the full period from the past through the projected future.
A Quick Overview of Gender Balance in the United States
Before looking at the numbers in detail, it helps to understand a few basic concepts used throughout this article.
- Sex ratio refers to the number of males per 100 females in a population. A ratio below 100 means women outnumber men, while a ratio above 100 means men outnumber women.
- Resident population is the standard measure used by the US Census Bureau, and it includes everyone living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, regardless of citizenship status.
- Sex ratio at birth in the United States has consistently hovered around 105 boys for every 100 girls, a biological pattern seen across most countries.
- Despite more boys being born each year, women eventually outnumber men nationally because of higher male mortality rates at nearly every stage of adult life.
Historical Population by Gender in the United States (1950 to 2020)
Since the 1950 Census, women have consistently made up a larger share of the total US population than men. This reversed a long-standing historical pattern in which men outnumbered women, largely due to waves of male-dominated immigration during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The table below shows the resident population by sex at each decennial census from 1950 through 2020, based on US Census Bureau data.
| Census Year | Male Population (millions) | Female Population (millions) | Total Population (millions) | Sex Ratio (Males per 100 Females) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 74.8 | 75.9 | 150.7 | 98.6 |
| 1960 | 88.3 | 90.6 | 178.9 | 97.5 |
| 1970 | 98.9 | 104.3 | 203.2 | 94.8 |
| 1980 | 110.1 | 116.5 | 226.5 | 94.5 |
| 1990 | 121.2 | 127.5 | 248.7 | 95.1 |
| 2000 | 138.1 | 143.4 | 281.4 | 96.3 |
| 2010 | 151.8 | 156.9 | 308.7 | 96.7 |
| 2020 | 162.7 | 168.8 | 331.4 | 96.4 |
A few patterns stand out in this long-term view:
- The sex ratio fell steadily from 1950 to 1980, reaching its lowest point around the late 1970s and early 1980s, largely because female mortality rates improved faster than male mortality rates during that era.
- Between 1980 and 2010, the sex ratio rose slightly as male mortality rates began to decline and immigration patterns shifted to include more working-age men.
- The total population more than doubled between 1950 and 2020, growing from about 150.7 million to more than 331 million residents.
- Women have outnumbered men in every census since 1950, a trend that had not been true for most of the country’s earlier history.
US Population by Gender in the Last 10 Years (2015 to 2024)
Looking at a shorter and more recent window shows how the gender balance has held relatively steady in percentage terms, even as the total population has grown. The estimates below are based on the US Census Bureau Population Estimates Program data, rounded to the nearest hundred thousand, with the female share narrowing gradually across the decade.
| Year | Male Population (millions) | Female Population (millions) | Total Population (millions) | Female Share of Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 157.6 | 163.3 | 320.9 | 50.9% |
| 2016 | 158.7 | 164.4 | 323.1 | 50.9% |
| 2017 | 159.7 | 165.4 | 325.1 | 50.9% |
| 2018 | 160.6 | 166.2 | 326.8 | 50.9% |
| 2019 | 161.2 | 167.0 | 328.2 | 50.9% |
| 2020 | 162.7 | 168.8 | 331.4 | 50.9% |
| 2021 | 163.2 | 168.8 | 332.0 | 50.8% |
| 2022 | 164.2 | 169.1 | 333.3 | 50.7% |
| 2023 | 166.0 | 169.9 | 335.9 | 50.6% |
| 2024 | 168.3 | 171.8 | 340.1 | 50.5% |
Key takeaways from the last decade of data include the following:
- The female share of the total population has slipped from roughly 50.9 percent in the middle of the decade to about 50.5 percent by 2024, a small but measurable narrowing of the gender gap.
- Net international migration has played a larger role in population growth in recent years, and migration flows tend to include a higher proportion of working-age men than the resident population overall.
- The overall population grew by about 19 million people between 2015 and 2024, with both male and female counts rising, though the male population grew at a slightly faster pace.
- Even with the narrowing gap, women still outnumbered men by roughly 3.5 million people as of 2024.
Current US Population by Gender
As of the most recent population estimates, the United States is home to more than 340 million residents, with women continuing to hold a slim numerical majority nationwide. Female residents account for just over half of the population, a pattern that has held since the 1950s despite the gap steadily narrowing in recent years.
At the same time, the age composition tells a more layered story:
- Among children and younger adults, males slightly outnumber females, consistent with the higher number of boys born each year.
- The balance shifts around middle age, and by the retirement years, women clearly outnumber men in nearly every state.
- Women outnumber men by roughly two to one in the 90 to 99 age group, and by about three to one among centenarians, reflecting the long-standing gap in life expectancy between the sexes.
- State-level patterns vary widely. States with military bases, prisons, or extraction industries, such as Alaska, North Dakota, and Wyoming, tend to have more men than women, while states with older populations or large urban centers, including Florida, Maryland, and New York, tend to have more women than men.
Future Projected Population by Gender (2030 to 2060)
Long-range population projections carry more uncertainty than historical data, since they depend on assumptions about future birth rates, death rates, and immigration levels.
The table below combines projection frameworks from the US Census Bureau and the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, both of which are commonly used sources for long-term US demographic outlooks. Figures are rounded and should be read as directional estimates rather than fixed forecasts.
| Projected Year | Male Population (millions) | Female Population (millions) | Total Population (millions) | Sex Ratio (Males per 100 Females) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2030 | 173.4 | 175.6 | 349.0 | 98.7 |
| 2040 | 181.1 | 181.9 | 363.0 | 99.6 |
| 2050 | 185.5 | 185.5 | 371.0 | 100.0 |
| 2060 | 191.9 | 191.1 | 383.0 | 100.4 |
Several important shifts are expected over the coming decades:
- The long-standing female majority is projected to gradually disappear, with the sex ratio approaching parity around 2050 and possibly tipping slightly toward a male majority by 2060.
- Population aging will accelerate. By 2035, older adults are projected to outnumber children in the United States for the first time in the nation’s history.
- The number of people aged 65 and older is projected to grow from about 49 million in the early 2020s to roughly 95 million by 2060, with women continuing to make up the majority of the oldest age groups even as the overall sex ratio approaches balance.
- The population aged 100 and older is projected to increase dramatically, and this group is expected to remain overwhelmingly female due to the persistent gap in life expectancy at the oldest ages.
- Net international migration is expected to remain the primary driver of total population growth in the coming decades, a shift from earlier periods when natural increase, meaning births minus deaths, was the dominant factor.
Combined US Population by Gender Table (1950 to 2060)
The table below brings together historical data, current figures, and future projections into a single long-range view, using decade-based reference points from 1950 through the projected year 2060.
| Year | Male Population (millions) | Female Population (millions) | Total Population (millions) | Sex Ratio (Males per 100 Females) | Data Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 74.8 | 75.9 | 150.7 | 98.6 | Historical |
| 1960 | 88.3 | 90.6 | 178.9 | 97.5 | Historical |
| 1970 | 98.9 | 104.3 | 203.2 | 94.8 | Historical |
| 1980 | 110.1 | 116.5 | 226.5 | 94.5 | Historical |
| 1990 | 121.2 | 127.5 | 248.7 | 95.1 | Historical |
| 2000 | 138.1 | 143.4 | 281.4 | 96.3 | Historical |
| 2010 | 151.8 | 156.9 | 308.7 | 96.7 | Historical |
| 2020 | 162.7 | 168.8 | 331.4 | 96.4 | Historical |
| 2024 | 168.3 | 171.8 | 340.1 | 98.0 | Current |
| 2030 | 173.4 | 175.6 | 349.0 | 98.7 | Projected |
| 2040 | 181.1 | 181.9 | 363.0 | 99.6 | Projected |
| 2050 | 185.5 | 185.5 | 371.0 | 100.0 | Projected |
| 2060 | 191.9 | 191.1 | 383.0 | 100.4 | Projected |
This combined view makes the long arc of the trend easy to follow. The sex ratio bottomed out in the 1970s and 1980s, has been climbing gradually ever since, and is on track to reach approximate gender parity by the middle of the century.
What Is Driving the Changing Gender Balance
A combination of demographic factors explains why the gap between male and female population counts has been narrowing for decades:
- Life expectancy convergence. The historical gap in life expectancy between men and women in the United States has narrowed somewhat in recent decades, even though women still tend to outlive men by around five years on average. Smaller gains in male longevity relative to earlier decades reduce the surplus of older women.
- Immigration composition. Net international migration has increasingly become the largest source of US population growth, and migrant populations, particularly working-age labor migrants, have historically skewed male in many sending countries.
- Birth rate patterns. The consistent biological pattern of roughly 105 male births for every 100 female births means that any given birth cohort starts out with more boys. As birth rates fall and this cohort effect plays a larger relative role in the total population, it can nudge the overall sex ratio upward over time.
- Aging population structure. As the large baby boomer generation moves further into older age brackets where women are more numerous, this pulls the national sex ratio down. Once this generation ages out of the population later in the century, the removal of that skew allows the ratio to drift back toward balance.
Regional Variation Across the Country
Gender balance is not uniform across the United States, and looking at state-level patterns adds useful context to the national trend:
- Alaska has consistently had the highest sex ratio in the country, driven by a large military presence, resource extraction industries, and a smaller retiree population.
- North Dakota and Wyoming also show above-average male populations, tied to energy sector employment and relatively young workforces.
- States with older populations or major retirement destinations, such as Florida, tend to have more women than men, since women live longer on average.
- Urban and suburban areas across the Northeast and South generally attract more women, partly linked to education and career opportunities in those regions.
- Among the nation’s largest counties, a few with concentrated institutional populations, including certain state prison systems, show unusually high sex ratios compared to the national average.
Why This Data Matters
Tracking the US population by gender is not simply an academic exercise. These figures directly affect planning across multiple sectors:
- Social Security and retirement programs rely heavily on projections of the older population by sex, since women make up a growing share of long-term beneficiaries at advanced ages.
- Healthcare systems use gender specific population data to plan for conditions and services that affect men and women differently, from maternal health to age-related chronic disease.
- Workforce planning and labor markets depend on understanding how the working-age population is split by gender, particularly as immigration reshapes the composition of new entrants to the labor force.
- Consumer markets and public policy both benefit from a clear picture of how the population is aging and how the balance between men and women is expected to shift over the coming decades.
Final Thoughts
The story of the US population by gender is one of gradual, steady change rather than sudden shifts. Women have held a slight numerical majority in the United States since 1950, a reversal of centuries of male-dominated population counts tied to early immigration patterns. That majority has persisted through the twenty-first century, though recent data and future projections both point toward a gradual narrowing of the gap, with some models suggesting the country could approach near equal numbers of men and women by the middle of this century.
Whether looking at the historical record stretching back more than 70 years, the most recent decade of population estimates, or projections reaching out to 2060, the underlying forces are the same: birth rates, mortality patterns, and immigration flows working together to shape one of the most fundamental characteristics of the nation’s population.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there more men or women in the United States?
As of the most recent estimates, women outnumber men in the United States, though the gap has been narrowing in recent years.
When did women start outnumbering men in the United States?
Women have outnumbered men in every US Census since 1950. Before that, men outnumbered women for most of the nation’s history.
Will the United States eventually have more men than women?
Some long-range projections suggest the sex ratio could approach or slightly exceed gender parity by the 2050s or 2060s, though this depends heavily on future birth rates, mortality trends, and immigration levels.
Why do women outnumber men even though more boys are born each year?
Although roughly 105 boys are born for every 100 girls in the United States, men experience higher mortality rates at nearly every stage of life, which gradually shifts the balance toward women, especially at older ages.
