The 2020 census results show the total white population shrank for the first time in U.S. history, according to data released by the Census Bureau on Thursday.
The share of the white population fell from 63.7 percent in 2010 to 57.8 percent a decade later, the data shows. In California, Hispanics became the largest racial or ethnic group, growing to 39.4 percent from 37.6 percent over the previous decade, while the white population dropped from 40.1 percent to 34.7 percent.
At the same time, there were significant increases among people who identify as multi-racial, Hispanic, and Asian, driving much of the population growth between the decade. People who identify as multi-racial increased by 276 percent, from 9 million in 2010 to 33.8 million in 2020.
The largest gains were among Hispanics, who now make up 18.7 percent of the population in 2020, the data shows.
Overall, the U.S. population grew just 7.4 percent during the previous decade, which is the second slowest on record, according to the census data. The population grew from roughly 308.7 million in 2010 to 331.4 million in 2020. Only the decade spanning the 1930s—when the Great Depression occurred—had a slower growth rate.
The opioid epidemic and lower birth rates among white millennials accelerated the decline in the white population, said the Brookings Institution’s William Frey in a Washington Post interview.
The bureau also noted that as suburbs and cities persistently grew, rural depopulation increased during the decade.
New York remained the biggest U.S. city, netting a population gain of 7.7 percent. Among the top 10 largest cities, Phoenix, Arizona, saw the greatest percentage-point gain—11.2 percent—during the decade.
Overall, the data shows that New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix are the five largest cities.
Buckeye, a suburb of Phoenix, saw its population increase by nearly 80 percent to lead the nation. And the Villages, a retirement community in Florida, is the fastest-growing metro area in the country, the census data shows.
“Population growth this decade was almost entirely in metro areas,” said Marc Perry, a senior demographer at the U.S. Census Bureau, in a statement to news outlets. “Texas is a good example of this, where parts of the Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas Fort Worth, Midland, and Odessa metro areas had population growth, whereas many of the state’s other counties had population declines.”
The data, which offers demographic and racial details of every community down to the block level, arrived months later than originally expected after the census took longer to complete due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The delay has forced some states to go to court to postpone their redistricting deadlines.
States use the data to redraw district lines for the U.S. House of Representatives after each decennial census, based on where people now reside.
Reuters contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times
