The U.S. Then & Now

^{Population Explosion: The U.S. population has grown by more than 13,000 percent since the nation declared independence.}

^{1776: 2.5 million people* / 2025: 342 million people. *The first U.S. Census wasn’t conducted until 1790, so population data for the year 1776 is estimated. Indigenous populations weren’t included in the Census then, but hundreds of thousands of Indigenous people lived in the territory at the time.} 

^{From Poor to Wealthy: Taking inflation into account, Americans today earn about 30 times what they did when the nation was new.}

^{1776: GDP per capita $69 (Worth around $2,500 in today’s money); 2025: GDP per capita (World average: $13,673).}

^{We’ve Become More Urban: More Americans now live in cities, which have grown much more populous.}

^{1790: The new U.S. had only a handful of cities. These were the largest: 1. New York, New York: 33,000 residents; 2. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 29,000; 3. Boston, Massachusetts: 18,000; 4. Charleston, South Carolina: 16,000; 5. Baltimore, Maryland: 14,000}

^{2025: Today over 80 percent of Americans live in urban areas. These are today’s largest U.S. cities: 1. New York, New York: 8.5 million; 2. Los Angeles, California: 4 million; 3. Chicago, Illinois: 3 million; 4. Houston, Texas: 2 million; 5. Phoenix, Arizona: 1.5 million}

^{Living Much Longer: Average life expectancy}

^{1776: 38* years *Estimated; 2025: 81 years}

^{Who’s Getting an Education?: Education in the U.S. was once for men. Now women are taking the lead.}

^{1776: In colonial America, women’s education was limited to basic literacy and learning domestic skills. Men’s education depended largely on wealth or social status and could include college for the elite.}

^{Today: U.S. women outpace men in completing a four-year college degree. Share of U.S. adults ages 25–34 with a bachelor’s degree: Women: 47%; Men: 37%}