Cheryl Russell, New Strategist Press

Generational power is shifting, according to a Demo Memo analysis of the Census Bureau's 2017 population estimates by single-year of age. Older generations are losing people, while younger generations are growing because of immigration.

Between 2010 and 2017, Baby Boomers lost nearly 4 million of their peers, a 5% decline in the size of the generation. The number in the older Swing generation fell by 2 million, an 8% decline. The World War II generation (the oldest) lost 7.6 million members – a 54% decline since 2010. Gen Xers saw their ranks fall by just 87,000 during those years.

Meanwhile, the number of Millennials grew by 2.8 million between 2010 and 2017, thanks to immigration. The iGeneration grew by 1.7 million. The Recession generation, aged 0 to 7, is now larger than the Swing and World War II generations combined.

Size of generations in 2017 (and % of total population)
325,719,178 (100.0%): Total population
32,028,089 (9.8%): Recession generation (aged 0 to 7)
63,140,935 (19.4%): iGeneration (aged 8 to 22)
79,671,915 (24.5%): Millennial generation (aged 23 to 40)
49,158,485 (15.1%): Generation X (aged 41 to 52)
73,465,961 (22.6%): Baby Boom generation (aged 53 to 71)
21,785,111 (6.7%): Swing generation (aged 72 to 84)
6,468,682 (2.0%): World War II generation (aged 85+)