{"id":10708,"date":"2019-05-29T06:54:58","date_gmt":"2019-05-29T11:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/gen-z-millennials-and-gen-x-outvoted-older-generations-in-2018-midterms\/"},"modified":"2025-04-23T23:57:44","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T03:57:44","slug":"gen-z-millennials-and-gen-x-outvoted-older-generations-in-2018-midterms","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2019\/05\/29\/gen-z-millennials-and-gen-x-outvoted-older-generations-in-2018-midterms\/","title":{"rendered":"Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X outvoted older generations in 2018 midterms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Voters in Missouri take part in November’s elections. Turnout reached a record high for the 2018 midterms. (Scott Olson\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Our approach to generational analysis has evolved to incorporate new considerations. Learn more about how we currently report on generations<\/a>, and read tips for consuming generations research<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Midterm voter turnout reached a modern high<\/a> in 2018, and Generation Z, Millennials and Generation X accounted for a narrow majority of those voters, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly available Census Bureau data<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Younger<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The three younger generations \u2013 those ages 18 to 53 in 2018 \u2013 reported casting 62.2 million votes, compared with 60.1 million cast by Baby Boomers and older generations. It\u2019s not the first time the younger generations outvoted their elders: The same pattern occurred<\/a> in the 2016 presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Higher turnout accounted for a significant portion of the increase. Millennials and Gen X together cast 21.9 million more votes in 2018 than in 2014. (The number of eligible voter Millennials and Gen Xers grew by 2.5 million over those four years, due to the number of naturalizations exceeding mortality.) And 4.5 million votes were cast by Gen Z voters, all of whom turned 18 since 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By comparison, the number of votes cast by Boomer and older generations increased 3.6 million. Even this modest increase is noteworthy, since the number of eligible voters among these generations fell by 8.8 million between the elections, largely due to higher mortality among these generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\"Millennial<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Millennials, Gen Xers and Boomers all set records for turnout in a midterm election in 2018. Turnout rates increased the most for the Millennial generation, roughly doubling between 2014 and 2018 \u2013 from 22% to 42%. Among Generation Z, 30% of those eligible to vote (those ages 18 to 21 in this analysis) turned out in the first midterm election of their adult lives. And for the first time in a midterm election, more than half of Gen Xers reported turning out to vote. While turnout tends to increase with age, every age group also voted at higher rates than in 2014, and the increase was more pronounced<\/a> among younger adults.<\/p>\n\n\n

Challenges in estimating voter turnout rates with the Current Population Survey<\/div>