America's middle slice is thinning out, and it's not about income—it's about age. New Census estimates show the number of Americans between 45 and 64 shrank by 2.68 million from 2020 to 2025, a 3.2% drop to 81.3 million people, reports Axios. That group—dominated by Gen X and younger baby boomers—typically supplies seasoned workers, civic leaders, and "sandwich generation" caregivers juggling kids, aging parents, and their own retirement plans. The Northeast (7.1%) and Midwest (6.2%) saw the sharpest declines, with only the South registering an uptick, though it was barely noticeable at 0.1%. The percentage translates into a mere 19,000 people or so.
"It's just a question of math, period," says demographer Ken Grobach, per Yahoo News. The number of children born in the years this cohort entered the world was smaller than in previous years, he explains. "It's not that they're mysteriously disappearing or mysteriously dying." The shift is happening as the country ages overall: The median age is now 39.4, up from 38.6 in 2020, while the 65-plus population jumped more than 16% and the under-18 group shrank over that same span. But the demographics of the 45-to-64 cohort in particular should have local governments and corporations on alert, suggests Axios. This group "typically represents peak earners who anchor municipal tax bases and possess decades of institutional knowledge."
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