America at 300 Million: Breaking Down the Numbers

In 1790, the U.S. population was just shy of 4 million people. By 1915, the population had reached 100 million.

Immigration, the post-war baby boom, longer life expectancies and better medical care doubled the population by 1967. Just 33 years later, we've reached a new milestone: 300 million.

Here are just a few glimpses into American life at 100, 200, and 300 million people.

Price of a new home

2006: $290,600

1967: $24,600 ($149,147 in 2006 dollars)

1915: $3,200 ($64,158 in 2006 dollars)

Cost for a gallon of regular gas

2006: $3.04 (as of Aug. 7)

1967: 33 cents ($2 in 2006 dollars)

1915: 25 cents ($5.01 in 2006 dollars)  

Price of milk

2006: $3 gallon

1967: $1.03 gallon ($6.24 in 2006 dollars)

1915: $ .36 gallon ($7.22 in 2006 dollars)  

Cost of a first-class stamp

2006: 39 cents

1967: 5 cents

1915: 2 cents  

Number of foreign-born people

2006: 34.3 million

1967: 9.7 million

1915: 13.5 million  

Average Household Size

2006: 2.6 people

1967: 3.3 people

1915: 4.5 people  

World Population

2006: 6.5 billion

1967: 3.5 billion

1915: 1.8 billion  

Tuberculosis Death (per 100,000 population)

2006: 0.2

1967: 3.5

1915: 140.1  

Number of people age 65 and older

2006: 36.8 million

1967: 19.1 million

1915: 4.5 million

Median age of the population

2006: 36.2

1967: 29.5

1915: 24.1  

Most popular baby names for boys and girls, respectively

2006: Jacob and Emily

1967: Michael and Lisa

1915: John and Mary  

Courtesy: U.S. Census Bureau