Background: Young-onset pancreatic adenocarcinoma (YOPC) is uncommon but there are limited studies for these patients. We used a population based registry to compare the characteristics and outcomes of young-onset vs. older patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Methods: We selected the patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma from the SEER registry diagnosed between 2004 and 2015. Cases with age of diagnosis less than 50 were termed young-onset pancreatic cancer. Stage 4 patients were excluded. We compared baseline characteristics of YOPC vs. older using Chi-square. Kaplan Meier and Cox regression were used for survival analysis of these patients. Results: Of 28,904 patients, 1,415 (4.9%) had YOPC while 27,489 (95.1%) were older. YOPC were more likely to have stage 3 compared to older patients with PC (31.6% vs. 25.3%). YOPC had a higher rate of surgery than older patients (40% vs. 29.1%, p < 0.001), were more likely to be male, black and of Hispanic ethnicity. The primary tumor location was not different between the two groups. Overall survival (OS) was higher in YOPC versus older patients (12 vs. 9 months, p < 0.001). The analysis of multivariable Cox regression confirmed that there is a significant association between survival and YOPC group after adjusting for stage, grade, gender, ethnicity, surgery and race (HR 1.23, 95% CI: 1.13-1.33, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Patients with non-metastatic YOPC represent a group of patients with distinct clinical characteristics. YOPC have a higher rate of surgery and better overall survival compared to older patients.