Professor mcnally asks the students to tell what percentage of the american population is made up of elderly people. joan correctly answers that the elderly account for about % of the u. s. population.

The number of people aged 65 and older in the United States as of July 1, 2015, is 47.8 million. It accounts for 14.9 percent of the total population. The projected population of people aged 65 and older in 2060 is estimated to be 98.2 million.  People in this age group will make nearly one in four U.S. residents.