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	Article
	Gender in the United States
	Gender Analysis Additional Findings on Gender

	According to Census 2000, 281.4 million people were counted in the United States — 143.4 million of whom were female and 138.1 million male.¹ The former made up 50.9 percent of the population, compared with 51.3 percent in 1990. Information on gender was derived from a question which was asked of all people. A question on the sex of individuals was included in all censuses since the first one in 1790. This report, part of a series that analyzes population and housing data collected by Census 2000, presents the number who are male and female in regions, States, counties, and places of 100,000 or more and highlights comparisons with data from the 1990 census.²
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	Gender Analysis
	The male population continued to grow slightly faster than the female population. Between 1990 and 2000, the male population grew slightly faster (13.9 percent) than the female population (12.5 percent). The excess of the female to male population dropped to 5.3 million in 2000, compared with 6.2 million in 1990. This resulted in the male-female ratio (the number who were male times 100 divided by the number who were female) increasing from 95.1 in 1990 to 96.3 in 2000. The Male - Female Ratio: 1900 - 2000 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1; 1990 Census of Population.The decline in the male-female ratio until 1980 resulted mainly from the relatively greater reduction in female mortality rates. The male-female ratio reversed its downward trend between 1980 and 1990 as male death rates declined faster than female rates and as immigration brought in more men. Figure 2 shows how male-female ratios fluctuated for every decade since 1900. From 1900 to 1940, the male-female ratio was above 100, but beginning in 1950, it fell below. Between 1980 and 2000, the male-female ratio gradually increased.
	The male-female ratio declined with age after age 24. The Male - Female Ratio by Selected Age Groups: 1990 - 2000 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1; 1990 Census of Population. Up to age 24, the male-female ratios were about 105, reflecting the fact that more boys than girls are born every year and that boys continue to outnumber girls through early childhood and young adulthood. The male-female ratio dropped gradually in the working age groups, from 105.1 in the age group 15 to 24 years to 92.2 for the age group 55 to 64 (see Figure 3).³ Among older adults, the male-female ratio fell rapidly, as women increasingly outnumbered men at older ages and by the age group 85 and over, the male-female ratio was 40.7. Male-female ratios increased from 1990 to 2000. Figure 3 also illustrates changes in the sex composition by age between 1990 and 2000. In 1990, the number who were male about equaled the number who were female (a ratio of 99.9) in the age group 25 to 34. In 2000, the male-female ratio in the age group 25 to 34 increased to 101.8. The age at which the number was almost equal shifted closer to the age group 35 to 44 in 2000. The largest increases in the male-female ratios from 1990 to 2000 occurred in the age group 55 and over. In 2000, the ratio was 92.2 in the age group 55 to 64 compared with 89.4 in 1990. In the age group 65 to 74, the ratio was 82.3 in 2000 compared with 78.1 in 1990. The greatest increase in the male-female ratio was in the age group 75 to 84, where the ratio increased from 59.9 in 1990 to 65.2 in 2000.
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	The relative size of the male and female populations varied by geographic region.⁴ Table 1 (click here to view Table 1) shows that among regions in 2000, the Northeast had the lowest male-female ratio — 93.5. The Midwest and South had male-female ratios in 2000 of 96.1 and 95.9, respectively. The West had the highest male-female ratio, at 99.6, approaching parity between the sexes. The regional male-female ratios in 2000 follow the same pattern as in 1990. At the State level in 2000, those who were female were more numerous than those who were male in all but seven States: Alaska led the States with the highest male-female ratio (107.0), followed by Nevada (103.9), Colorado (101.4), Wyoming (101.2), Hawaii (101.0), Idaho (101.0), and Utah (100.4). All of these States were in the West. In contrast, the lowest male-female ratios were recorded in Rhode Island (92.5), Massachusetts (93.0), and the District of Columbia (89.0).⁵
	Over the decade, five States in the West grew at a faster rate than the other States, with the male population growing slightly faster than the female population. Over the decade, the West experienced he fastest population growth at 19.7 percent followed by the South with 17.3 percent. In the West, the male and female populations grew at about the same rate, 19.8 percent and 19.7 percent, respectively. In the South, the male population grew by 18.2 percent and the female population by 16.4 percent (see Table 1). In the five States with the highest percent increase in total population (Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho), the male population grew faster than the female population between 1990 and 2000. In the fastest growing State of Nevada, the male population grew by 66.4 percent and the female population by 66.1 percent. In the second fastest growing State of Arizona, the male and female populations grew by 41.4 percent and 38.6 percent, respectively. Between 1990 and 2000, the male population grew faster than the female population in 42 additional States. There were only three States (Alaska, California, and Hawaii) where the female population grew at a faster rate than the male population. In Alaska, the female population grew by 16 percent compared with 12 percent for the male population. In California, the rate of growth was 14 percent for the female population and 13 percent for the male population. In Hawaii, the rate of growth for the female and male populations were 11 percent and 8 percent, respectively. The only decline in total population over the decade was in the District of Columbia. The population in the District of Columbia declined by 6 percent with the male population declining by 5 percent and the female population by 7 percent.
	National Atlas of the United States^® Source: U.S. Census Database, 2000
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	The female population outnumbered the male population in most counties in 2000. At the county level, the female population outnumbered the male population in most counties. Of the 3,141 counties and equivalent areas, the number of counties with a greater female population was 2,305 representing 73 percent of all counties and equivalent areas. About 42 percent or 1,315 counties and equivalent areas had male-female ratios below the U.S. male-female ratio of 96.3. The counties with low male-female ratios were concentrated in the Northeast and South. Most States in these regions predominantly had counties with low male-female ratios, except for a few counties in upstate New York and the Florida panhandle. The female population exceeded the male population in all counties in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Delaware. The female population also exceeded the male population in most counties in Vermont, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina. In contrast, counties with high male-female ratios were primarily in the West. All counties in Nevada, Alaska, and Hawaii had male-female ratios above 100. Other States with the majority of their counties with high male-female ratios were Idaho, Oregon, and Colorado. Among the ten places of 100,000 or more with the highest male-female ratios, half were in California. Seven of the places of 100,000 or more with the highest male-female ratios were in the West and three were in the South (see Table 2). Five of these places were in California: Salinas, Santa Ana, Sunnyvale, Costa Mesa, and Oxnard. Salinas, California had the highest male-female ratio (113.7), followed by Fort Lauderdale, Florida (110.0) and Paradise, Nevada (109.1).⁶ Of the 245 places with a population of 100,000 or more, the male population exceeded the female population in 44 places.⁷

	Eight of the places of 100,000 or more with the lowest male-female ratios were in the South. Eight of the places of 100,000 or more with the lowest male-female ratios were in the South. They were New Orleans, Louisiana; Mobile, Alabama; Baltimore, Maryland; Shreveport, Louisiana; Pembroke Pines, Florida; Richmond, Virginia; Jackson, Mississippi; and Birmingham, Alabama. One place was in the Midwest (Gary, Indiana) and one place was in the Northeast (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), as shown in Table 3. Gary, Indiana had the lowest male-female ratio with 84.6, followed by Birmingham, Alabama (85.7); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (86.8); and Jackson, Mississippi (86.9).

	The male-female ratios of the ten most populous cities varied. Table 4 illustrates the male-female ratio for the ten largest cities in 2000. Of the ten largest cities in 2000, the male population exceeded the female population in three cities: Phoenix, San Diego, and Dallas. The male and female populations were about equal in Los Angeles and Houston. Philadelphia and Detroit had the lowest male-female ratios, at 86.8 and 89.1, respectively.

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	Additional Findings on Gender
	At what age were there almost twice as many women as men? At age 85, there were about twice as many women as men in 2000 (485,320 compared with 244,874, respectively). This break-point is 2 years older than in 1990, when there were twice as many women than men at age 83. What are the counties with the highest and lowest male-female ratios? In 2000, Crowley County, Colorado led the counties with the highest ratio at 205.4, followed by West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana (191.1), and Aleutians-East Borough, Alaska (184.8). In contrast, the county equivalents with the lowest ratio were independent cities in Virginia. They included: Clifton Forge city (78.9), Franklin city (79.2), and Williamsburg city (81.4). All of these counties or county equivalents had populations less than 16,000.

	Endnotes ¹ The text of this report discusses data for the United States, including the 50 States and the District of Columbia. Data for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are shown in Table 1. back to article ² 1990 populations shown in this report were originally published in 1990 census reports and do not include subsequent revisions resulting from boundary or other changes. back to article ³ Note that comparisons of census counts can be affected by differences in the completeness of census coverage between groups being compared. For example, men are usually covered less completely in the census than women, which would lower the male-female ratio calculated from census data. The male-female difference in net coverage tends to be greatest for adults under age 65, particularly for Blacks or African Americans. back to article ⁴ The Northeast region includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The Midwest includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The South includes Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. The West includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. back to article ⁵ Washington, DC is treated as a State equivalent for statistical purposes. back to article ⁶ Paradise, Nevada is a census designated place and is not legally incorporated. back to article ⁷ Census 2000 showed 245 places in the United States with 100,000 or more population. They included 238 incorporated places (including 4 city-county consolidations) and 7 census designated places that were not legally incorporated. For a list of these places by State, see www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t6.html. back to article

	By Denise I. Smith and Renee E. Spraggins Adapted from U.S. Census Bureau, Gender: 2000, in Census 2000 Brief Series.
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