Race and Hispanic Origin: Census 2000 vs. Census 2010

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the United States is well on its way to becoming a nation in which Non-Hispanic whites are no longer a majority of the American population.

Recent Census Bureau projections have this tipping point being reached in the 2040s.

Regardless of the exact year in which this milestone is reached, the United States has already become a much more racially and ethnically diverse country in recent decades, particularly when considering the recent growth of Hispanic and Asian populations in the United States.

In 2000, non-Hispanic whites constituted 69% of the total U.S. population.  Ten years later, in 2010, the non-Hispanic white share had declined to just under 64% of the total American population.

From 2000-2010, the Hispanic and Asian populations increased their respective percentage shares the overall American population.  As an overall percentage share of the U.S. population, Black residents remained relatively unchanged at 12%.  From 2000 to 2010, however, the Hispanic share grew from 13% to 16%.  The Asian share, in turn, grew from 4% to 5%.

Tomorrow (June 13th), the Census Bureau will release estimates of the U.S. population as it was on July 1, 2012.  And while tomorrow's estimates do not constitute a new census (the next official census will be in 2020), they will give us insight into a variety of population trends, including those of race and ethnicity.

December 12, 2012 Article by Hope Yen on Census Bureau Projections