Demographics often play a role in elections. Here’s an overview of Pennsylvania’s population describing who may be heading to the polls for the April 28th Primary and November 3rd General election.
POPULATION: Pennsylvania’s population in 2019 was 12,801,989 or 3.9% of the American population. Between 2009 and 2019, Pennsylvania’s population grew by 0.8% compared with 6.3% growth nationwide during that same period.
- Pennsylvania’s population is 76.1% white (not Hispanic) compared with 60.4% in the nationwide.
- People who are 65 or older make up 18.2% of Pennsylvania’s population compared with 16.1% nationwide.
- Children 17 and younger are 20.7% of Pennsylvania’s population, but they are 22.5% of the nation’s population.
- Pennsylvania is the 6th most populous state in the country.
- The median age of the population in Pennsylvania is approximately 40.6 years of age.
- In terms of the ratio of females to males, the state is currently at 51.1% females and 48.9% males.
JOBS: Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate in December 2019 was 4.5% compared with 3.5% nationwide.
- The median wage in Pennsylvania in 2018 was $38,450. That means that half of workers in Pennsylvania earned more than this and half earned less.
- Pennsylvania’s median wage is $190 lower than the national median wage of $38,640.
- In Pennsylvania, more people have jobs in health care & social assistance than any other industry. The industry employs 1,056,200 people or 17.5% of all employees in Pennsylvania.
- One significant way employment in Pennsylvania differs from the entire nation is in health care & social assistance. Nationally, the industry employs 13.5% of all employees. In Pennsylvania, it employs 17.5% of all employees.
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Percentage of employees in a union in Pennsylvania is 12.0% compared to 10.3% in the USA.
ELECTIONS: Of the five presidential general elections since 2000, the Democratic candidate won four times (Gore-2000, Kerry-2004, Obama-2008, Obama-2012) and the Republican candidate (Trump-2016) won once in Pennsylvania.
- In the 2016 presidential election, 72% of voting-age citizens in Pennsylvania were registered to vote, compared with 70.3% nationwide.
- In the 2016 presidential election, 62.6% voting-age citizens in Pennsylvania voted compared with 61.4% nationwide.
- In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump won 20 electoral votes in Pennsylvania. SAD! LET’S BE SURE THAT DOES NOT HAPPEN AGAIN IN 2020!
