New estimates released by the Census Bureau today show that the resident population of Kentucky was 4,454,189 as of July 1, 2017, an increase of 0.4% from last year and an increase of more than 2.6% from the 2010 Decennial Census.  Kentucky remains the 26th largest state by population, trailing Louisiana (25th) and coming in just ahead of Oregon (27th).

All of Kentucky’s population growth since 2010 has been in the population segment age 65 and older, which has grown by 23% since the last Decennial Census.  The number of individuals younger than 65 has declined during this time.  Persons age 65 and older now constitute 16% of the population, up from 13.3% in 2010 and 12.5% in 2000.  In the past year, more than 52,000 Kentuckians turned age 65.

There were 1,010,539 Kentuckians under the age of 18 in 2017, the smallest number since 2005.  Persons younger than 18 now constitute 22.7% of the state’s total population, compared to 23.6% in 2010 and 24.6% in 2000. Read More