Census: U.S. getting older - UPI.com WASHINGTON, March 1 (UPI) -- May is Older Americans Month, with the census showing major increases of people age 65 and up in the U.S. population, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday. There were 40.3 million people 65 and older in the United States on April 1, 2010, the bureau said. The figure accounts for 13 percent of the population is and larger than in any other decennial census, up from 31.2 million in 1990 and 35 million in 2000. The census projects 88.5 million in the same age group in 2050. Worldwide, the bureau said there were a projected 546 million people in that age group across the globe in 2011, and that number was expected to increase to 1.56 billion by 2050 -- an increase from about 8 percent to 17 percent. The bureau said the real median 2010 income of households with householders 65 and older was $31,408, while 9 percent of that age group lived in poverty in 2010 -- unchanged from 2009.