2010 Census Shows Nation’s Hispanic Population Grew Four Times Faster Than Total U.S. Population

The U.S. Census Bureau today released a 2010 Census brief on the nation’s

Hispanic population, which shows the Hispanic population increased by 15.2
million between 2000 and 2010 and accounted for more than half of the total
U.S. population increase of 27.3 million. Between 2000 and 2010, the
Hispanic population grew by 43 percent, or four times the nation’s 9.7
percent growth rate.

The Hispanic Population: 2010 brief looks at an important part of our
nation’s changing ethnic diversity with a particular focus on Hispanic
origin groups, such as Mexican, Dominican and Cuban.

Detailed Hispanic Origin Distribution

About three-quarters of Hispanics in the United States reported as
Mexican, Puerto Rican or Cuban origin in the 2010 Census. Mexican origin
was the largest group, representing 63 percent of the total U.S. Hispanic
population – up from 58 percent in 2000.  This group increased by 54
percent and saw the largest numeric change (11.2 million), growing from
20.6 million in 2000 to 31.8 million in 2010. Mexicans accounted for about
three-fourths of the 15.2 million increase in the total Hispanic population
between 2000 and 2010.

The Mexican origin population represented the largest Hispanic group in
40 states, with more than half of these states in the South and West
regions of the country, along with two states in the Northeast and all 12
states in the Midwest.

Puerto Ricans, the second largest group, comprised 9 percent of the
Hispanic population in 2010 – down from 10 percent in 2000. The Puerto
Rican population grew by 36 percent, increasing from 3.4 million to 4.6
million. Puerto Ricans were the largest Hispanic group in six of the nine
states in the Northeast and in one western state – Hawaii, with a
population of 44,000.

The Cuban origin population increased by 44 percent, growing from 1.2
million in 2000 to 1.8 million in 2010. Cubans made up approximately 4
percent of the total Hispanic population in both the 2000 and 2010 Censuses
and were the largest Hispanic origin group in Florida in 2010 with a
population of 1.2 million.

Since 2000, three detailed Hispanic origin groups surpassed a population
of 1 million: Salvadoran (1.6 million), Dominican (1.4 million) and
Guatemalan (1.0 million).

Regional Geographic Distribution

The Hispanic population grew in every region of the United States
between 2000 and 2010, and most significantly in the South and Midwest. The
South saw a 57 percent increase in its Hispanic population, which was four
times the growth of the total population in the South (14 percent).
Significant growth also occurred in the Midwest, where the Hispanic
population grew by 49 percent. This was more than 12 times the growth of
the total population in the Midwest (4 percent).

While the Hispanic population grew at a slower rate in the West and
Northeast, the regions still saw significant growth between 2000 and 2010.
The Hispanic population grew by 34 percent in the West, which was more than
twice the growth of the total population in the West (14 percent). The
Northeast’s Hispanic population grew by 33 percent, or 10 times the growth
of the total population in the Northeast (3 percent).

States

More than half of the Hispanic population in the United States resided
in just three states: California, Texas and Florida. In 2010, 37.6 million,
or 75 percent, of Hispanics lived in the eight states with Hispanic
populations of 1 million or more: California, Texas, Florida, New York,
Illinois, Arizona, New Jersey and Colorado. Hispanics in California
accounted for 28 percent (14.0 million) of the total Hispanic population,
while the Hispanic population in Texas accounted for 19 percent (9.5
million). Hispanics in Florida accounted for 8 percent (4.2 million) of the
U.S. Hispanic population.

The Hispanic population experienced growth between 2000 and 2010 in all
50 states and the District of Columbia. In eight states in the South
(Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South
Carolina and Tennessee) and in South Dakota, the Hispanic population more
than doubled in size between 2000 and 2010. Even with this large growth
rate, the percentage of Hispanics in 2010 in each of these states remained
less than 9 percent, far below the national level of 16 percent.

Hispanics in New Mexico comprised 46 percent of the total state
population, the highest proportion for any state. Hispanics were 16 percent
or more of the state population (matching or exceeding the national level)
in eight other states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New
Jersey, New York and Texas.

Counties

Hispanics were the majority of the population in 82 out of the nation’s
3,143 counties. In the South, Hispanics were the majority in 51 Texas
counties and one Florida county (Miami-Dade). In the West, Hispanics were
the majority in 12 New Mexico counties, nine California counties and two
counties in each of the following states: Arizona (Santa Cruz and Yuma),
Colorado (Conejos and Costilla) and Washington (Adams and Franklin).

In the Midwest, Hispanics were the majority in two Kansas counties (Ford
and Seward), and in the Northeast, Hispanics were the majority in one New
York county (Bronx).

Counties with the highest proportions of Hispanics were concentrated in
bands along the states bordering Mexico – Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and
California.

Concentrations of Hispanics were also found outside these border states.
In particular, Hispanic concentrations were found in counties within
central Washington; in Kansas, Idaho, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Colorado;
around Chicago and along the East Coast from New York to Virginia; in
central and southern Florida; and the District of Columbia.

The Hispanic population increased to more than twice its size since 2000
in at least one of every four counties. Of the 3,143 counties in the United
States, Hispanics at least doubled in population size in 912 of them. Among
the 469 counties with at least 10,000 or more Hispanics in 2010, the top
five fastest growing counties were Luzerne, Pa. (479 percent change);
Henry, Ga. (339 percent change); Kendall, Ill. (338 percent change);
Douglas, Ga. (321 percent change); and Shelby, Ala. (297 percent change).

Hispanic Population Resources:
The Hispanic Population: 2010 brief -
http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-04.pdf
Online Press Kit -
http://2010.census.gov/news/press-kits/briefs/briefs.html
Spanish release -
http://www.census.gov/news/releases/operations/cb11-cn146sp.html