I finally got caught up on season 46. After stumbling on a discussion on /r/survivor about generational1 participation and play styles I decided to waste a whole bunch of time and pulled together some data2. I thought it was interesting and thought I’d share.
Number of contestants by generation by season
| Season |
Gen Z |
Millennials |
Gen X |
Boomers |
Silent |
| 1 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
3 |
3 |
| 2 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
6 |
0 |
| 3 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
7 |
1 |
| 4 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
4 |
1 |
| 5 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
4 |
1 |
| 6 |
0 |
1 |
11 |
4 |
0 |
| 7 |
0 |
3 |
9 |
4 |
0 |
| 8 |
0 |
1 |
9 |
7 |
1 |
| 9 |
0 |
3 |
11 |
3 |
1 |
| 10 |
0 |
6 |
10 |
4 |
0 |
| 11 |
0 |
9 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
| 12 |
0 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
0 |
| 13 |
0 |
4 |
13 |
3 |
0 |
| 14 |
0 |
4 |
11 |
4 |
0 |
| 15 |
0 |
7 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
| 16 |
0 |
7 |
8 |
5 |
0 |
| 17 |
0 |
8 |
6 |
4 |
0 |
| 18 |
0 |
7 |
6 |
3 |
0 |
| 19 |
0 |
10 |
7 |
3 |
0 |
| 20 |
0 |
7 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
| 21 |
0 |
8 |
6 |
5 |
1 |
| 22 |
0 |
7 |
7 |
4 |
0 |
| 23 |
0 |
10 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
| 24 |
0 |
11 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
| 25 |
0 |
11 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
| 26 |
0 |
13 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
| 27 |
0 |
12 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
| 28 |
0 |
8 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
| 29 |
0 |
12 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
| 30 |
0 |
11 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
| 31 |
0 |
9 |
8 |
3 |
0 |
| 32 |
1 |
11 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
| 33 |
1 |
10 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
| 34 |
0 |
12 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
| 35 |
0 |
15 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| 36 |
4 |
13 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| 37 |
1 |
14 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
| 38 |
4 |
10 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
| 39 |
2 |
14 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
| 40 |
0 |
11 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
| 41 |
6 |
7 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
| 42 |
5 |
8 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
| 43 |
6 |
10 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| 44 |
6 |
9 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| 45 |
9 |
7 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| 46 |
7 |
10 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
First Season a generation appeared in
| Gen |
Season |
| Silent |
1 |
| Boomers |
1 |
| Gen X |
1 |
| Millennials |
4 |
| Gen Z |
32 |
Last season a generation appeared in (so far)
| Gen |
Season |
| Silent |
32 |
| Boomers |
39 |
| Gen X |
46 |
| Millennials |
46 |
| Gen Z |
46 |
First season of plurality
| Gen |
Season |
| Silent |
None |
| Boomers |
None (almost 12) |
| Gen X |
1 |
| Millennials |
11 |
| Gen Z |
45 |
Number of seasons participated in
| Gen |
Season Count |
| Silent |
9 |
| Boomers |
36 |
| Gen X |
46 |
| Millennials |
42 |
| Gen Z |
12 |
Total participants
| Gen |
Participants |
| Silent |
11 |
| Boomers |
115 |
| Gen X |
305 |
| Millennials |
356 |
| Gen Z |
52 |
Miscellaneous
- Only Gen X has appeared in every season
- Only Season 32 had a representative from all 5 Generations
- Seasons 3, 28, 35, and 40 only had 2 Generations represented
- Season 33 was “Gen X vs Millennials” but had a Boomer and a Zoomer (by USC Standards)
1 Generations are arbitrary, inconsistent, and ill defined. I used USCs definitions 3 for no particular reason other than I had to pick something
2 A contestant is counted for each appearance in a season at the age of their appearance in each season. Contestant’s generation was determined by <Year of Filming> minus <Age>. Age and Filming dates were sourced from Wikipedia
3 https://libguides.usc.edu/busdem/age
