What are demographic factors?

Demographic factors are personal characteristics are used to collect and evaluate data on people in a given population. Typical factors include age, gender, marital status, race, education, income and occupation. Governments use analysis of the demographics makeup in a population to plan strategies and ongoing public service programs.

Businesses also use demographic factors to segment an audience into smaller target markets. A company might focus its marketing efforts on 18- to 24-year-old women, for instance. Another business might target retired couples for a travel excursion. Additional demographic factors used for public and business assessments include religion, family size and occupation.