Two-thirds of Americans ages 65 and older were grandparents in 2024, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of federal surveys and other national studies.
The analysis, released ahead of Grandparents Day on Sept. 13, found that the likelihood of being a grandparent rises sharply with age and that many grandparents remain in regular contact with their grandchildren.
Grandparenthood rises with age
Less than 1% of adults in their 30s were grandparents in 2024, compared with 27% of those in their 50s and 51% of those in their 60s, Census Bureau data showed.
Among adults ages 80 to 90, 74% were grandparents. The average U.S. grandparent was 68 years old.
Grandparents had six grandchildren on average in the University of Michigan's 2022-23 Health and Retirement Study. About 24% had one or two grandchildren, 43% had three to six, 19% had seven to 10 and 14% had more than 10.
The Health and Retirement Study primarily surveys people 50 and older. Pew limited much of its analysis to participants born in 1965 or earlier who entered the study before 2022 and had available weights as of August 2026.
Caregiving and shared households
Twenty-one percent of grandparents said they or a spouse spent at least 100 hours caring for a grandchild or great-grandchild during the prior two years. That averages to about one hour a week.
Pew cautioned that the caregiving survey ran from March 2022 through December 2023 and covered part of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many people limited in-person contact. The result may not represent current caregiving levels.
In 2024, 8% of U.S. children lived with a grandparent who was the head of household. Of those children, 48% lived with two married grandparents, 43% with a grandmother who had no spouse present and 9% with a grandfather who had no spouse present.
Contact and closeness
Seven in 10 grandparents ages 65 and older said in a September 2025 Pew survey that they saw, called or texted their grandchildren at least a few times a month. Forty-one percent were in touch at least a few times a week and 15% daily or more often.
In a separate June 2025 survey, 36% of adults with at least one living grandparent said they were extremely or very close to them. Twenty-seven percent described the relationship as somewhat close, while 38% said they were not too close or not close at all.
Black adults were more likely to report a very close relationship with a grandparent. Forty-nine percent did so, compared with 36% of Hispanic adults, 34% of Asian adults and 32% of White adults.
Pew found no statistically significant differences by gender, age or household income in the share reporting an extremely or very close grandparent relationship.
The analysis drew on Census Bureau surveys, Pew surveys and the Health and Retirement Study, which is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging and conducted by the University of Michigan.
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