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Which age group had the highest voter turnout in the 2024 election?
Executive Summary
Voters aged 65 and older had the highest turnout in the 2024 U.S. election, with multiple analyses reporting substantially higher participation among seniors than any younger cohort. Sources find turnout rates for the 65+ population in the mid-60s to mid-70s percent range and show seniors comprised the largest share of actual voters in 2024, while younger cohorts (18–29) participated at markedly lower rates (around the mid-40s to high-40s percent for turnout and roughly 14% of voters by share) [1] [2] [3].
1. How the competing claims stack up — youth enthusiasm versus senior reliability
Two sets of claims emerged: one emphasizing a significant youth turnout surge, noting near-half participation among 18–29-year-olds and particularly strong rates for women aged 20–29, and another asserting that 65+ voters both turned out at the highest rates and made up the largest share of the electorate [3] [4] [1]. The youth-focused sources report 47% overall youth turnout and subgroups like 20–29 women at around 50%, signaling increased youth engagement but not surpassing senior turnout [3] [4]. By contrast, analyses citing senior turnout put the 65+ participation rate as high as 74.7% in one estimate and around 63% in another longitudinal metric, and note seniors accounted for about 29% of voters, a plurality among age groups [1] [2] [5]. These numbers show youth gains did not displace seniors as the highest-turnout age group.
2. Methodological differences explain apparent conflicts in the data
The divergence between headlines emphasizing youth surge and those naming seniors as highest-turnout stems from different measures: turnout rate (percentage of an age group that voted) versus share of total voters and multi-election consistency. Youth analyses often highlight turnout rate increases within 18–29-year-olds and gender splits, sometimes focusing on narrower age ranges like 18–24 or 20–29, while senior-focused work uses both turnout rates and voter share statistics and longitudinal participation metrics across 2020–2024 [3] [4] [1] [5]. Where youth turnout reached the mid-to-high 40s percent, senior turnout consistently exceeded 60%, producing a clear numeric gap when identical metrics are compared. The difference in data windows and subgroup definitions accounts for the apparent contradiction rather than contradicting raw facts.
3. Dates, data sources, and what each analysis actually measured
The senior-turnout findings were clearly dated in mid-2025 reports, with one analysis published June 18, 2025, reporting 74.7% turnout for 65+ and another June 27, 2025, documenting sustained high senior participation across three elections [1] [5]. Youth-focused summaries lack precise publication dates in the provided extracts but present the 47% youth turnout figure and subgroup breakdowns that indicate meaningful gains for ages 18–29 and specifically women aged 20–29 [3] [4]. Other analyses quantify voters’ demographic shares, showing the 65+ cohort made up ~29% of voters while 18–29 comprised about 14%, a disparity reported May 13, 2025 [2]. These dated sources together show timely post‑election assessments aligning on seniors as the top turnout group.
4. What’s omitted and why it matters for interpreting turnout dynamics
Several summaries omit crucial context: the effects of state-level early/absentee voting rules, demographic weighting of surveys, and how nonvoters’ demographics differ from voters. Youth turnout percentages rising from low baselines still leave youths underrepresented among actual voters, which affects electoral impact despite increased engagement [3] [4] [2]. Some youth-focused pieces emphasize candidate preference splits within age subgroups (e.g., 18–24 vs. 25–29) without clarifying that higher relative support does not equate to higher absolute turnout [4]. Meanwhile, senior-centered analyses stress consistency and higher absolute turnout but may understate regional variations where youth surges impacted specific states. Both emphases are accurate within their measurement frames, yet each omits the other’s key metric unless explicitly compared.
5. Bottom line for readers and what to watch next
Across the reviewed, dated analyses, the clear factual conclusion is that Americans age 65 and older had the highest voter turnout in 2024, both by turnout rate and by share of voters, while youth turnout improved but remained lower in absolute terms [1] [2] [5]. Watch for detailed state-level post‑election tables and future Census and survey releases that will refine age-group turnout estimates and confirm how much youth increases persisted versus localized spikes; those will resolve remaining methodological nuances and show where youth engagement translated into electoral influence versus where senior turnout dominance prevailed [5] [3].