Number of white people declines for first time — and other census data takeaways

CENSUS DATA RELEASE STARTS REDISTRICTING SCRAMBLE THAT COULD HELP GOP WIN HOUSE

Here are some highlights:

• The number of White people population decreases for the first time

The number of people who identify as white alone declined from 223.6 million in 2010 to 204.3 million in 2020, marking an 8.6% decline. It is the first time the category saw a drop in the nation’s history and was also the only race category to see a population decline.

Those who identify as white in combination with another race, however, increased by 316%, with the white alone or in combination with another group coming in at 235.4 million.

White people still make up the largest racial group in the United States, accounting for 57.8% of the population, down from 63.7% in 2010.

There was also a considerable increase in the Hispanic and Latino population, growing 23% to 62.1 million in 2020.

According to the Census Bureau’s “diversity index,” the country is more diverse than ever before. There is a 61.1% chance that two people chosen at random in 2020 were of the same race, compared to 54.9% in 2010.

• Slowest population growth since the 1930s

Population growth from 2010 to 2020 was 7.4%, marking the slowest growth since the 1930s. It was much slower than the 13.2% growth in the 1990s and 9.7% growth from the 2000s.

Most counties, 52% of them, saw a population decrease from 2010 to 2020. On average, counties that had fewer than 50,000 people saw population declines, and counties with 50,000 people or more grew.

• Population growth was concentrated in populous areas

The Villages, Florida, home to the privately run retirement community with more than 50 golf courses, was the country’s fastest-growing metro area this decade, up 39% from 2010.

The cities that had the highest number of population growth were New York, New York, with a gain of more than 600,000, and Houston, Texas, up about 200,000.

Other cities that gained more than 100,000 people were Seattle, Washington; Columbus, Ohio; Charlotte, North Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, and Dallas in Texas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Denver, Colorado; Los Angeles, California; and Phoenix, Arizona.

The fastest-growing cities that grew by 44% or more were generally suburbs of major cities: Irvine, California; Kent, Washington; South Jordan, Utah; Meridian, Idaho; Buckeye, Arizona; Goodyear, Arizona; New Braunfels, Texas; Conroe, Texas; Frisco, Texas; and McKinney, Texas.

• Data better for Democrats than feared

Republicans are optimistic that redistricting fights might leave them with an edge for the 2022 midterm elections because GOP-leaning states will gain congressional seats and control many of the state legislatures tasked with redrawing lines.

And Democrats worried that challenges from the pandemic and reporting issues could show a smaller population of nonwhite people than there are in reality.

But census data could show that the data is better for Democrats than what they feared.

Small, rural, Republican-leaning areas saw population declines, and new House districts will likely be drawn around populous areas, noted University of Virginia Center for Politics’s Kyle Kondik.

And the nonwhite population is larger than earlier estimates.

Nicholas Jones, director and senior adviser of race and ethnic research and outreach at the Census Bureau, warned: “Comparisons between the 2020 and 2010 Census race data should be made with caution, taking into account the improvements we have made to his Hispanic origin and race questions, data processing, and the ways we code what people tell us.”