Roughly 30% of American women and 20% of American men who reach age 65 will survive to age 90, based on Social Security Administration life tables. As of 2010, about 1.9 million Americans were aged 90 or older, representing less than 1% of the total population at any given time. That number is growing fast as the large baby boomer generation ages and life expectancy improvements accumulate.
How Many Americans Are 90 and Older
The U.S. had 1.9 million people aged 90 and older in 2010, and that figure has climbed since. Women dominate this age group: 74% of Americans aged 90 and older are women, outnumbering men nearly 3 to 1. This gap reflects the well-documented survival advantage women hold at every stage of life, from lower rates of heart disease in middle age to greater resilience against many chronic conditions.
The population aged 85 and older is projected to nearly triple by 2060, reaching 19 million. The Census Bureau also projects the country will add roughly half a million centenarians over the same period. While no specific projection isolates the 90-and-older group, the trend is clear: the number of nonagenarians will surge as improvements in healthcare, chronic disease management, and public health continue.
The Gender Gap at 90
Women’s advantage in reaching 90 is substantial and consistent across decades of data. A 65-year-old woman today has roughly a 1 in 3 chance of reaching 90, while a 65-year-old man’s odds are closer to 1 in 5. The reasons are partly biological: estrogen provides some cardiovascular protection during reproductive years, and women tend to develop heart disease about a decade later than men. But behavioral differences matter too. Men historically smoke and drink at higher rates, are more likely to work in physically dangerous occupations, and are less likely to seek medical care early.
The gap is narrowing slightly. As smoking rates among men have fallen and workplace safety has improved, male life expectancy has gained ground. But the 3-to-1 ratio among those who actually reach 90 shows how deeply the disparity is embedded in earlier decades of accumulated health differences.
Race and Ethnicity Differences
Survival to very old age varies meaningfully across racial and ethnic groups, and the patterns are not always what you’d expect. Research analyzing U.S. life table data from 2006 to 2019 found that Hispanic Americans have the highest survival probabilities to age 100 among all racial and ethnic groups, a pattern that holds whether measured from age 70, 80, or 90. Asian Americans, whose data became available in 2019, showed the highest overall probability of reaching 100 from any starting age.
One striking finding: the probability of surviving from age 90 to 100 was comparable across most groups, with one exception. Non-Hispanic White Americans showed a marked disadvantage in that final stretch compared to Hispanic, Asian, and Black Americans who had already reached 90. This suggests that among people who survive to very old age, certain populations carry protective factors, whether genetic, social, or lifestyle-related, that continue to matter even in the ninth and tenth decades of life.
What Determines Who Reaches 90
Genetics accounts for about 25% of the variation in human lifespan. That means for the first seven or eight decades, lifestyle choices are the stronger determinant of whether you’ll reach old age. The people who make it to 90 and beyond tend to share a common profile: they’re nonsmokers, they maintain a healthy weight, they stay physically active, and they handle stress well. These aren’t surprising findings, but the consistency is notable. Researchers studying long-lived individuals find far more similarity in their habits than in their genetic makeup.
After 80, genetics plays an increasingly important role. Several gene variants have been linked to exceptional longevity. Some are involved in basic cellular maintenance: repairing DNA, protecting the caps on chromosome ends (telomeres), and neutralizing unstable molecules that damage cells over time. Others influence blood fat levels, inflammation, and immune function, reducing the risk of heart disease, which remains the leading killer in old age. No single gene guarantees a long life, though. It appears that multiple gene variants, many still unidentified, work together to push lifespan past typical limits.
This means your choices through midlife are the biggest lever you control. Regular physical activity, not smoking, moderate alcohol consumption, and maintaining a healthy weight collectively do more to get you to 90 than any known genetic factor. Genetics then acts as a kind of tiebreaker, helping determine who among the healthy-living population pushes into their 90s and beyond.
Why the Number Reaching 90 Is Growing
Several forces are converging to increase the share of Americans reaching 90. Smoking rates have plummeted from over 40% in the 1960s to about 11% today, and the cardiovascular benefits of quitting accumulate over decades. Treatments for heart disease, cancer, and diabetes have improved dramatically, turning formerly fatal conditions into manageable ones. Public health measures from blood pressure screening to seatbelt laws have reduced premature death at every age.
The sheer size of the baby boomer generation, born between 1946 and 1964, amplifies these trends. As boomers enter their 80s over the next two decades, the absolute number of Americans surviving to 90 will increase sharply even if the percentage reaching that age stays flat. Combined with genuine improvements in survival rates, the U.S. is heading toward a population with far more nonagenarians than at any point in history. The Census Bureau’s projection of 19 million Americans aged 85 and older by 2060 gives a sense of the scale, with a significant fraction of that group expected to cross the 90-year mark.