Statistical One Liners

Below are some current stats compiled by Ad Age Today. I believe that data like this is often taken out of context. Casual conversation aside, it is of little value to anyone. At best ,they can form the hypothesis of an in depth study on the issue. I don’t take statistical one-liners as the Gospel. While they may make you look smart to a client or colleague they should not stand as the rational for an ad campaign. That being said, here is some food for marketing thoughts.

Population
• From 2000-2009, established metro areas like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York added a significant number of residents, but they accounted for less than 3%-5% increase. Houston and Dallas added both people (more than 1 million a piece) and grew almost 25% in the period
• Sixty percent of Americans now live in the South and West regions.
• Undergraduate business degrees are also almost evenly split between men and women.
• Only one in five new households in the U.S. in 2009 were non-Hispanic whites.
• Twenty-three metro areas already have more Hispanics than whites.
• Twenty-four percent of births are to Hispanic moms, up 10% from 1990.
• Births to white women have dropped 12%.
• Among the Hispanic population, there are nine births for every death. For non-Hispanic whites, the ratio is 1-to-1.
• Married couples with kids dropped below 50% of all households for the first time in 2009.
• Teen births are down to just 10%, less than the number of births for women age 35 and older (14%).
• There were more babies born in 2007 than ever before, but by 2010 birth rates have dropped to an all-time record low.
• Four in 10 kids are born to single moms.
• Millennials outnumber the boomers, and as they move into their 30s and 40s, they will drive the economy.
• The number of households with no children is at an all-time high of 70.5%.

Recession /Trends
• There are fewer people living alone.
• The recession helped lead to a striking 14% increase in non-married couples living together.
• Lottery and gambling expenditures have fallen by an average of 21% per household over the recession.
• In the last 15 years, the number of households watching TV in the pre-dawn hours doubled to 16%. Newscasters are beginning their broadcasts earlier and earlier.
• Spending on video rentals plummeted by more than 30% during the recession.
• Men tend to make more cell phone calls per day than women do.
• Twenty-six percent of men make six or more cell calls a day.
• Forty-three percent say they make five or fewer.

• Income & Spending
• The median household income in the U.S. is roughly $50,000.
• The top 40% of Americans earn 75% of the money.
• Married couples with kids are the biggest spenders. They had the largest household income growth over the last 30 years.
• The average amount spent on video games and consoles has increased by 70% over the recession.
• Women age 25-39 now make up 46% of those earning bachelors degrees in science and engineering.

Need any other stats to support your marketing strategy? Want to add some trivia to your repertoire? Look up AdAgeStat on adage.com

• Ad Age Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ESRI, U.S. Center for Disease Control, Peter Francese, Joel Kotkin, Pew Research Center, Nielsen. Portions of this appeared in the Ad Age Consumer Issueertising Age: Your Online Source for Marketing and Media