demographic

From demography +‎ -ic.

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˌdɛm.əˈɡɹæf.ɪk/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• Audio (US)

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demographic (comparative more demographic, superlative most demographic)

1. Of or pertaining to demography.

demographic (plural demographics)

1. (chiefly in the plural) A demographic criterion: a characteristic used to classify people for statistical purposes, such as age, race, or gender.
   • 1985, Richard I. Henderson, Compensation Management: Rewarding Performance, Fourth Edition, Reston Pub. Co., →ISBN, page 604,

     Of significant current interest is the fact that the compa-ratio can be used to analyze the pay treatment of specific groups of employees. Segregating employees by such demographics as gender, race, or age group (e.g., 18–25, 26–39, 40–50, 51–65), a compa-ratio analysis could provide a first indication […]

   • 2000, James Chapman, “Impact of Building Roads to Everywhere”, in Robert D. Bullard, Glenn S. Johnson, and Angel O. Torres (eds.), Sprawl City: Race, Politics, and Planning in Atlanta, Island Press, →ISBN, page 82,

     How will this investment affect at the individual level, based on being disaggregated by various demographics (race and ethnicity, gender, age, disability, income) and locations (inner city, inner ring suburbs, suburbs, exurbs), miles traveled, travel time, accessibility to transit, and car ownership?

2. A demographic group: a collection of people sharing a value for a certain demographic criterion.

   Synonym: (informal) demo

   • 2002, Laura Grindstaff, ‘Pretty Woman with a Gun: La Femme Nikita and the Textual Politics of “The Remake”’, in Jennifer Forrest and Leonard R. Koos (eds.), Dead Ringers: The Remake in Theory and Practice, State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page 281,

     […] it was also the initial verdict for the Nikita television series before the show garnered something of a cult following among the crucial 30–something demographic, at which point the critical response grew decidedly more favorable.

   • 2006, Tom Hutchison, Amy Macy, Paul Allen, Record Label Marketing, Elsevier, page 189:

     A newspaper is consumed by many demographics, a small portion of which may be the target.

   • 2006, Kelley Keehn, The Woman's Guide to Money, Insomniac Press, →ISBN, page 44,

     As a member of the Generation X demographic, I'm saddened to admit that paying with plastic (whether debit or credit card) has superseded paying with real money.

   • 2012, 24 June (Sun), Debbie Arrington, "Racing Fans are being courted", The Sacramento Bee, page C1, col. 4

     "The demographic for NASCAR is people who eat," said Steve Page, president of the former Infineon Raceway […]

3. An individual person's characteristic, encoded for the purposes of statistical analysis.

   (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

• demographer
• demographical
• demographically
• demography