America has a missing-middle problem and this one is demographic.

Why it matters: The shrinking 45-64 population could leave fewer experienced adults to run institutions, mentor younger workers and care for the fast-growing population behind them.

• This is the Gen X-ish squeeze: The age group includes most of Generation X, plus younger baby boomers.
• It also overlaps with the "sandwich generation" years, when many adults are juggling children, aging parents, careers and their own retirement worries.

By the numbers: The U.S. population ages 45-64 fell by 2.68 million from April 1, 2020, to July 1, 2025, according to new Census Bureau data.

• The group declined 3.2% nationally, from 84 million to 81.3 million.
• The West fell 2.7%.

State of play: The decline is happening as the country gets older overall.

• The U.S. median age rose to 39.4 in July 2025, up from 38.6 in April 2020.
• The 65-and-older population grew 16.2% nationally during the same period.
• The under-18 population fell 2.4%.

Zoom in: The 45-64 group isn't vanishing so much as aging up. Younger boomers are moving into retirement age, and older Gen X cohorts are filling in behind them.

Context: Gen X is smaller than the baby boom because it was born during the "baby bust" that followed the postwar birth surge.

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As rents climb and older homeowners stay put, senior housemates are having a moment.

• Older adults are turning spare bedrooms into lifelines, for themselves and for renters priced out of the market, The New York Times reports.

The big picture: It's not charity. It's a trade: space for affordability, companionship and a hand around the house.

• The arrangement pays off socially and financially for homeowners and renters alike.

Zoom out: Around 55 home-share groups now play roommate matchmaker nationwide, vetting applicants and brokering the delicate stuff: pets, parking, chores and thermostat preferences.

• Several states are weighing "Golden Girls" bills to loosen rules on unrelated adults living together.
• Nonprofits like Sunshine Home Share Colorado make matches directly after interviews and background checks. Last year, Sunshine connected a record 31 shares.

The bottom line: Home-sharing won't fix a housing shortage. But it's a hopeful start — right down the hall.

🎟️ Pay up: SFMTA is ramping up Muni fare enforcement and requiring riders to tap when boarding as the agency confronts a $307 million budget shortfall. (ABC7)

🗿A San Francisco couple unearthed a 150-pound limestone sculpture in their Russian Hill backyard that may be connected to famed WPA-era artist Ralph Stackpole. (KCRA)

🚔 A police watchdog found two SFPD officers used excessive force against Matthew Ludwig after a license-plate error led them to mistakenly believe his car was stolen. (CBS)

🚕 Tesla's shiny gold Cybercab has been spotted testing on San Francisco streets with a human still behind the wheel. (SF Chronicle)

Searches for gray hair salons and services have surged on Yelp, according to data shared with Axios.

Why it matters: America is getting older, and more people are embracing their grays rather than hiding them.

• Even some younger women are seeking out the look.

By the numbers: Yelp searches for salons offering gray blending — a coloring technique that uses highlights to incorporate gray strands — jumped 905% in 2025 from a year earlier.

• Inquiries for gray hair specialists rose 276%.

The big picture: Blending is typically lower maintenance than fully covering gray hair, which can require salon appointments every three to four weeks.

• Blending can stretch that time between visits by a month or two, says Cynthia Valdez, owner and hairstylist at an Austin, Texas, salon.

What they're saying: Many people now want to "showcase" their grays, Valdez tells Axios, "rather than always being obsessed about covering it, or being insecure about showing it."

• That's a big change. "It used to be like, 'Oh, you got one gray. Let's cover it right away so nobody can see it.'"

Zoom in: Many of her clients are millennials and Gen Z with "just a little bit" of gray. For them, Valdez says she adds highlights to enhance or brighten the grays that frame their face.

Reality check: While blending may be on the rise, it's not for everyone.

• Some clients still prefer regular root touch-ups, Valdez says.

Go deeper

👋 Axios chief copy editor Sheryl Miller here.

• I'm turning 60 this year, and this milestone has me thinking about the value of aging beyond economic power or trendy hair. It's perspective.

The big picture: Like a lot of older Gen Xers, I have stories of buying an annual road atlas, talking for hours on a corded phone in the kitchen and witnessing the first Macintosh appear in my college computer lab.

• I remember looking at that "mouse thing" and feeling quite sure it would never catch on.

Between the lines: I've been wrong about so many things. And if 60 has taught me anything, it's that being wrong isn't the worst thing. Refusing to learn is.

Here's some advice — a few things I wish I'd known when I was younger.

✏️ Write it down. You think you'll remember everything, but you won't. You'll remember the big things, mostly.

• The small things — the funny thing your kid said, the long days at the pool — those have a way of slipping away.

💞 Your friends — your support system — are everything. In a family emergency, they were the ones who organized meals, picked up my daughter from college and showed up when I couldn't ask.

👥 Make the connection. In my 30s, a retired couple lived across the street from us. They were the neighbors who went out of their way to do kind things, like installing a tree swing in their yard for the neighborhood kids to use.

• Then life got busy. We rushed through school years, work deadlines, practices, dinners, all of it. Somewhere along the way, I lost that connection, and I will always regret that.

The bottom line: Maybe graying means you've lived long enough to be wrong about a few things — and lucky enough to keep learning.