Most real groundhogs only live a few years, not decades. Groundhogs in the wild typically live about 3 years, and it’s rare for them to reach older than 6 years of age. In captivity, with protection from predators and regular food, they can live over 10 years and sometimes close to 15 years.

When people ask “how old is the groundhog” around Groundhog Day, they usually mean Punxsutawney Phil, the famous weather‑predicting groundhog. The club that looks after Phil in Pennsylvania jokingly claims he is well over 100 years old, but that’s a legend; biologically, a single groundhog cannot live that long, so the “Phil” you see today is one in a succession of groundhogs used for the tradition.

So:

  • A typical groundhog: around 2–3 years old, sometimes up to 6 in the wild.
  • A kept/“pet” or ceremonial groundhog: can reach 10–15 years, but any claim of 100+ years is a fun tradition, not a real age.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.