Here's what experts on aging have to say about surging past the century mark and the surprisingly high quality of life for many 100 year olds.
The Pew Research Center said in January that the number of Americans age 100 and older is forecast to climb substantially over the next 30 years, from an estimated 101,000 in 2024 to roughly 422,000 in 2054, citing projections from the US Census Bureau.
Those figures both far outpace data from 1950, when the Census Bureau reported an estimated 2,300 Americans in the hundred-plus age bracket, according to Pew.
"By 2054, the global centenarian population is projected to grow to nearly 4 million," compared to current global population of roughly 722,000, Pew said.
The Pew Center said in January that 78 percent of centenarians in the US in 2024 are women, and 22 percent are men. In addition, the racial breakdown for the age bracket in the US this year is 77 percent white, 8 percent Black, 7 percent Asian, 6 percent Hispanic, and smaller percentages for those identifying as multiracial, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander.
The center projects that in 2054 the American centenarian population will be 72 percent white, 10 percent Black, 5 percent Asian, and 11 percent Hispanic, with smaller percentages in the multiracial, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander categories.
Healthy habits help, but it largely comes down to genetics, according to a February 2024 report from the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University's Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, a project launched in 1995.
To reach age 90, the report said, 75 percent of how we age comes down to our personal "health behaviors," while 75 percent of reaching age 105 or older boils down to roughly "200 protective genes" present in centenarians.
The BU researchers said in their February report that about 90 percent of centenarians remain "disability-free" into their early 90s.
And, the report said, 15 percent of centenarians are known as "escapers," or people who have improbably avoided aging-related diseases at age 100. And a whopping 70 percent of so-called escapers at 100 manage to stave off Father Time for a while longer, living independently until they turn 106, the BU report said.
"But for some rare exceptions, centenarians have just as many disease-associated genetic variants as the average population," the BU researchers say on their site. "Thus, their genetic advantage is likely due to variants that slow aging and decrease risk for aging-related diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's Disease."
Carter, for his part, still enjoys listening to music, the New York Times reported Monday on X, formerly Twitter.
"Jimmy Carter's aides always said he would outlive them," wrote Times reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg. "He turns 100 on Tuesday. Love this: The former president listens to music, including old standbys like Bob Dylan and the Allman Brothers Band. His favorite song is Garth Brooks's 'Unanswered Prayers.'"
The BU researchers' site says women who have children in mid-life have better odds of becoming centenarians.
"Several studies have noted an association between older maternal age and an increased odds of exceptional survival," the site says. "Women who gave birth to a child after the age of 40 (fertility assistance was not technologically available to this cohort) had a four times greater odds of being a centenarian."
The site says researchers are now investigating genes that influence reproductive fitness to see if they can also affect the rate of aging and "susceptibility to age-related diseases."
Yes. Netflix last year released "Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones," referring to multiple geographical areas on the planet boasting the highest concentration of centenarians, including Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Ikaria, Greece; Nicoya, Costa Rica; and Loma Linda, California.
"These five spots share some similar elements -- a plant-based diet, natural movement, and putting family first -- that have been proven to promote longevity and health in residents," the film's website says.