As one of the nation’s leading providers of health, dental, group, life, disability, and long-term care benefits, Aetna routinely monitors population changes. According to U.S. Census Bureau data the company compiled for its “2007-2009 Strategic Planning Environmental Scan,” the country is in the midst of three big demographic shifts during the next several decades.

AGE: The age cohort of 65 and above will grow from 13 percent to more than 20 percent of the population, while cohorts less than 45 years old will decline from 66 percent to 57 percent.

PLACE: Between 1995 and 2025, the net population gain will be most evident in seven states—(in order) California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Washington, Arizona, and North Carolina—accounting for 58 percent of the net population change in the United States. As a whole, the western region of the United States is projected to grow at nearly twice the national average, while the Northeast and Midwest will grow at half the U.S. total rate.

RACE: Diversity within the United States continues to expand, with minorities currently comprising about 35 percent of the total population and projected to comprise 50 percent by 2050. Hispanics are the fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States, projected to account for nearly 45 percent of the population growth during the next two decades to represent nearly 20 percent of the total U.S. population.