Had The Simpsons characters aged in real-time, they would look decidedly different today.

The Simpsons is a long-running animated comedy series that debuted in 1989. The show has been on the air for decades, and while it has changed over time, the one constant is the characters. Since their premiere in 1989, The Simpsons characters have remained ageless throughout the series. In over 30 seasons, the Simpson family and supporting characters haven’t aged a single day. As if frozen in time, they appear the same or, in some instances, their ages shift to fit the narrative. One thing is certain, however, had The Simpsons characters aged in real-time, they would look decidedly different today. Here’s a look at their respective ages, the sometimes-conflicting canon information on their birth date, and what age they would be as of 2024 if time moved forward normally in their universe.

The Simpsons’ series premiere — Season 1, Episode 1, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” — debuted on December 17, 1989. Before that, they appeared in short sketches on The Tracey Ullman Show starting on April 14, 1987. Using either date as a measuring stick gives them relatively normal birthdays and ages, which can then be used to provide an accurate assessment of how old they would be three decades on. Of course, those details have often changed in the service of a joke or a running gag within a particular episode, and the series itself has made light of its characters’ agelessness more than once. What follows is an estimate only, based on the date of the series premiere and subsequent details revealed directly by specific episodes.

Updated January 3, 2024 by Robert Vaux: The article has been updated to include information directly presented in specific episodes. An entry has been added for Abe “Grampa” Simpson, and the formatting has been upgraded to conform with CBR’s current standard.

12. Maggie Simpson

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Margaret Lenny “Maggie” Simpson is Marge and Homer’s youngest child. She is always seen sucking a pacifier or tripping over her baby gown. Although Maggie is a baby, she is quite clever: often helping her father out of hairy situations. Maggie is born seven years after Marge has Lisa. When Homer buys the family their first house, Marge gets pregnant with Maggie. She is assumed to be perennially less than one year old, putting her birthday at either 1986 or 1988, depending on when one determines the series premiere.

Conflicting details in the show itself throw a wrench into that, however. Season 5, Episode 21, “Lady Bouvier’s Lover” opens with her first birthday party. It aired on May 12, 1994: implying that she was born in 1993. That’s borne out by Season 6, Episode 13, “And Maggie Makes Three,” which aired January 22, 1995, and also sets her birthday in 1993. That would make her 31 in 2024.

11. Lisa Simpson

Lisa Marie Simpson is the overachiever of the family, and perhaps the most intelligent. Her interests include jazz music, which she plays on her saxophone, and upholding her conduct in accordance with her morals and beliefs. Her beliefs are what led her to become a vegetarian, and if she had aged and grown, she could have overcome her stubby fingers to become a famous jazz musician. Several “what if” episodes depict her possible life as an adult, including a stint as President of the United States.

Lisa starts the series as a 7-year-old, putting her birthday in either 1980 or 1982 by premiere reckoning. In addition, Season 3, Episode 1, “Stark Raving Dad” depicts her 8th birthday party, with a song sung by a large white man named Leon Kompowsky who believes he’s Michael Jackson. That episode first aired September 19, 1991, putting Lisa’s date of birth at 1983, and landing her somewhere in her early 40s in 2024.

10. Bart Simpson

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Bart is the oldest child of Marge and Homer Simpson, and the most mischievous. He is quite the little troublemaker, often devising pranks and undermining authority figures. When he’s not causing trouble for his principal or annoying his dad, he can be found skateboarding, reading comics, or watching the Krusty The Clown Show.

Bart’s age is routinely stated as 10: two years older than Lisa, which puts his birthdate at either 1979 or 1977, judging by the premiere. However, Season 3, Episode 12, “I Married Marge,” reveals that he was conceived after Homer and Marge took in a screening of The Empire Strikes Back, which opened in late May 1980 and puts his date of birth sometime in early 1981. One episode later, “Radio Bart” depicts his 10th birthday. That episode aired in January 1992, which roughly matches the details in “I Married Marge.”

9. Lenny & Carl

Lenford “Lenny” Leonard and Carlton “Carl” Carlson, Jr. are Homer’s best friends and fellow employees at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. Most often, Lenny and Carl are always seen together, whether at work, at a ballgame, or frequenting Moe’s Tavern with Homer. Since the two have known each other since childhood and have been seen in flashbacks together, one can assume they are the same age. The series depicts them as being contemporaries of Homer: somewhere in their mid-30s, which would put them somewhere around 70 years old in 2024 according to the series’ premiere dates.

Season 16, Episode 7, “Mommie Beerest,” shows Lenny with a magazine cover that mentions a “Bloodbath in Laos” which he apparently saved because it was the week of his birth. The cover is a reference to Life Magazine’s coverage of the Laotian Civil War in 1971, meaning Lenny would have been born the same year. That matches the episode’s air date of January 30th, 2005, making him 34 years old at that time and 53 years old in 2024.

8. Waylon Smithers, Jr.

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Waylon Smithers is Mr. Burns’s long-time assistant. Although oblivious to his affections, Smithers is deeply in love with Mr. Burns. His devotion grants him the ability to do anything Mr. Burns asks of him, whether he agrees with him or not. His age is depicted as nondescript, and he could conceivably be anywhere from his mid-20s to his mid-40s when the series begins.

Several episodes have referenced Smithers’ age, although none of them are consistent. In Season 8, Episode 21, “The Old Man and the Lisa,” Smithers states that he was born 25 years after the stock market crash of 1929, putting his birthday at 1954, and making him either 33 or 35 when the series begins. Conversely, Season 13, Episode 5, “The Blunder Years,” depicts him as a newborn baby when Homer is 12 years old, suggesting that he was born in 1968, to match Homer’s birthday in 1956. That would put him in his early 20s when the series begins and 56 in 2024. And a flashback scene in Season 33, Episode 1, “The Star of the Backstage” complicates the question further by showing him as a high school student in 1999, putting his birth date in the early 1980s, and somewhere in his early 40s in 2024.

7. Marge Simpson

Marjorie “Marge” Bouvier Simpson is the matriarch of the Simpson family: a homemaker and full-time mom to her three children, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Marge serves as the voice of reason and the one who tries to reign in the chaos of her household, usually with limited success.

Homer and Marge are the same age: Season 2, Episode 12, “The Way We Was” depicts them both as seniors in high school in 1974. That matches Homer’s stated birthdate of 1956 and lets audiences infer Marge’s birthdate as the same year. She’d be either 31 or 33 when the series begins — matching her depicted age throughout the series — and 68 years old in 2024.

6. Homer Simpson

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Homer Jay Simpson is the patriarch of the Simpson family. He works as an inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, though he probably shouldn’t, where he is most often seen sleeping or eating donuts. In his free time, he frequents Moe’s Tavern with his group of friends. He’s depicted as lazy, selfish, and rather dim, though he loves his family and can go to great lengths to make them happy.

Homer is depicted as being in his mid-thirties throughout the series, and the show has confirmed his birth date. Season 4, Episode 16, “Duffless,” entails Homer losing his driver’s license after failing a breathalyzer test. The license reveals his birthdate to be May 12, 1956, making him 31 or 33 when the series begins, and 68 in 2024.

5. Krusty The Clown

Krusty the Clown, real name Sir Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky, is the host of The Krusty The Clown Show. He acts as the show’s go-to send-up of celebrity narcissism and excess. Suffice to say, Krusty’s age jumps around to fit the story. According to Season 6, Episode 1, “Bart of Darkness,” he was starring in The Krusty The Clown Show by 1961, though at that point it was a news-based talk show discussing issues of the day.

Assuming Krusty was in his 20s or 30s at the time of his show’s debut, that would place his birth year in the 1930s or 1940s. It would also put him anywhere from his late 40s to early 60s at the time of The Simpsons’ premiere. In Season 21, Episode 10, “Once Upon A Time In Springfield,” Krusty’s age is stated to be 52. The episode aired in January 2010, which would make his birth year 1958: 66 years old in 2024.

4. Principal Seymour Skinner

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Walter Seymour Skinner is the Principal at Springfield Elementary School. While struggling to fund his school out of genuine concern for student education, Skinner has to deal with the shenanigans of his most rambunctious student and nemesis, Bart Simpson. He’s often used as a parody of authority figures and is usually depicted as quite clueless about the goings-on in his own school. He’s also a veteran of the Vietnam War and periodically deals with PTSD from his experiences there.

In Season 8, Episode 19, “Grade School Confidential,” Skinner reveals that he’s 44 years old. The episode originally aired in April 1997, putting his birthdate in 1953. That would make Skinner either 34 or 36 years old at the beginning of the series, and of the right age to have served in Vietnam. If he aged accordingly, he would be 71 years old in 2024.

3. Ned Flanders

Nedward Flanders Jr. is the goody-two-shoes neighbor of the Simpsons. He is a deeply religious person who, at times, can seem uptight when faced with adverse situations. Although he is a common annoyance to Homer, Ned is a genuinely good person and neighbor, offering the Simpsons assistance whenever they need it. He’s intended to demonstrate how genuinely kind and good people can still be annoying.

He appears to be a contemporary of Homer and Marge’s throughout the series, but due to his “clean living,” Ned is older than he looks. In Season 10, Episode 10, “Viva Ned Flanders,” he mentions that he is 60 years old. The episode aired in January 1999, which means he was almost certainly born in 1938. That would make him a very youthful 49 or 51 when the series premiered, and 86 in 2024.

2. Abraham Simpson

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Abe “Grampa” Simpson is Homer’s father. He’s often depicted as rambling and befuddled, though he has led an extraordinary life full of wild adventure. That includes service in World War II, which gives some clue as to his age. The rest of the family tends to treat him as a nuisance.

Like Mr. Burns, Abe’s exact age fluctuates wildly, compounded by his notoriously faulty memory and the show’s willingness to change it in the name of a good joke. It’s often mentioned as 83, which puts his birth year at 1904 or 1906 if he begins the series at that age (and likely long dead in 2024). Season 24, Episode 4, “Gone Abie Gone” states that he was 35 when Homer was 6. Applying that to Homer’s 1956 birthdate puts Abe’s birth at 1927: old enough (barely) to serve in the war, making him 97 years old in 2024.

1. Mr. Burns

Charles Montgomery Plantagenet Schicklgruber Burns is the owner and operator of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. He is Springfield’s wealthiest citizen, using his money and power to do whatever he wants, without fear of the authorities. He’s thoroughly evil and absurdly ancient, which the show often uses as the source of gags. That causes his exact age to fluctuate wildly, depending on the needs of individual episodes.

Season 4, Episode 17, “Last Exit to Springfield,” depicts him as a small child in 1909, putting his birthdate at around the turn of the century and making him well over 110 at the youngest in 2024. Season 31, Episode 10, “Bobby, It’s Cold Outside,” depicts a 1935 flashback to his childhood which sets his birth sometime in the late 1920s or early 1930s. That would put him in his 90s in 2024.