Metropolitan areas across the U.S. continue to get more diverse as minorities, especially Hispanics, increase their share of the population.Figures that were scheduled to be released Thursday by the Census Bureau show that Hispanics continue to spread beyond traditional gateway cities like Los Angeles and New York into other cities, suburbs and rural America. The Hispanic population of St. Joseph, Mo., about an hour north of Kansas City, increased 21% from July 2006 through July 2007, the largest percentage increase in the country.
Scranton, Pa., had an increase of 17% in its Hispanic population, and Hagerstown, Md., in northwestern Maryland near the Pennsylvania border, had an increase of about 14%.
The boom in Hispanic population, the majority of which comes from births rather than immigration, continues to be the driving force in U.S. demographics. The Hispanic population increased in 95% of counties with an overall population greater than 10,000.
Many of the metro areas with a fast-growing Hispanic population, such as Madison, Wis., and Charlotte, N.C., have attracted a mix of Hispanic immigrants as well as domestic migrants who have left gateway cities.
"We continue to see growth and spreading of new minorities across the country," says William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. "At the same time, the white population is getting older and becoming more constrained."
The white population is declining in about half of U.S. counties. About one in 10 counties is "majority minority," meaning more than half the population identifies itself as something other than non-Hispanic white.
Whites are projected to fall below 50% of the total U.S. population by 2050. Several states, including Texas, California, Hawaii and New Mexico, have already hit that milestone.
Among the black population, the largest growth is among southern cities, as many African-Americans migrate away from northern cities.
The largest numerical gain of African-Americans was in Atlanta, whose black population rose by about 65,000 from July 2006 through July 2007. The Dallas-Fort Worth area added 23,000 African-Americans, and Charlotte, N.C., added 17,000.
By: Conor Dougherty
Wall Street Journal; August 7, 2008
