The United States at 250: How the Country Has Changed in the Past 50 Years

In July, the United States will celebrate its 250th anniversary. The country’s last major milestone was 50 years ago, at its bicentennial on July 4, 1976.

U.S. society has changed profoundly since then. Over the past five decades, the U.S. population has aged significantly, with the percentage of people 65 and older nearly doubling. The country has also become more racially and ethnically diverse, as growing shares of people identify as Asian or Hispanic. And following more than 70 million immigrant arrivals, the percentage of foreign-born people in the population has more than tripled.

Americans are also less likely to be married than ever before. Women – who now have far more options outside of the home than they did in 1976 – have contributed to a boom in higher education and helped expand the workforce. And even though many Americans are financially better off than they were 50 years ago, economic gaps have widened.

Ahead of the nation’s birthday, Pew Research Center identified some prominent trends across key areas of American life: demographics, work, family and economics. Our 50-year comparisons are based on U.S. Census Bureau data collected between 1970 and 2024.

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