Business & Marketing (BUSA): U.S. Demographic & Generational Data

The mission of the U.S. Census Bureau is to collect data about almost everything! The Bureau's task that we are most familiar with is counting, every ten years, how many people live in the United States -- but that's just the beginning. There's also ongoing analysis of demographic trends, as well as organizing statistical information from other government agencies, so it's useful to the public.

Here are just some of the reports available from the Census Bureau:

• 2020 Census Results
• American Housing Survey -- Looks at the availability, quality, and cost of housing, as well as rates of homeownership.
• Population Projections -- This collection of reports examines recent trends to predict which parts of the country will gain or lose residents in the near future. Other topics included are health quality indicators; life expectancy; prevalence of non-English languages; and changes in the racial and ethnic diversity of each region of the country.

This chart was taken from the NIH Record, a newsletter published by the National Institutes of Health. It illustrates when people in each generational group were born (in the right column), and how many people alive today fall into each category (left column).

Millennials are sometimes referred to as "Generation Y." People born after the Generation Z time period will be members of Generation Alpha.

MILLENNIALS (Generation Y)

• 11 Facts About the Millennial Generation -- Article from the Brookings Institution
• Amid the Stereotypes, Some Facts About Millennials -- Article from National Public Radio (NPR)
• The Millennial Generation -- Video from "Quick Takes" series, Bloomberg news service
• Time Use of Millennials and Generation X: Differences Across Time -- Study prepared for Monthly Labor Review, a journal published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

GENERATION Z

• Defining Generations: Where Millennials End and Generation Z Begins -- Report by the Pew Research Center
• What Are the Core Characteristics of Generation Z? -- Blog post published by the Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Who Is Generation Z? -- Episode from the podcast After the Fact, produced by the Pew Charitable Trusts

CONSUMER BEHAVIORS by GENERATION

• Generation Face-Off: Comparing Gen X, Y, and Z Shopping Behaviors -- Blog post written by a member of the Young Entrepreneur Council, published on the Forbes magazine website
• Gen Z Want to Go Behind the Scenes with Brands on TikTok and Instagram -- Blog post written by Heather Dretsch, assistant professor at the Poole College of Management, North Carolina State University
• How Americans Bank: Before and During COVID-19 -- Chart containing data describing how banking behavior changed for each generational group during the pandemic, developed by the American Bankers Association, a trade organization
• How to Appeal to Gen-Z Without Obviously "Marketing to Gen-Z" -- Blog post by the Forbes Coaches Council
• Marketing to Millennials: How to Capture Gen Y Consumers -- Blog post on the Business News Daily website
• Millennials and Banking -- Series of reports about how this generation uses banking services, prepared by the American Bankers Association
• National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households -- Data compiled by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). To view statistics for Pennsylvania, select it from this interactive map.