August 12, 2021 census results and news
Local-level results from the Census Bureau provided insight into the changing racial and ethnic composition of the population since 2010.
According to new 2020 census data released Thursday, America is more diverse and multiracial than ever.
“Our analysis of the 2020 census results shows that the U.S. population is significantly more multiracial and more racially and ethnically diverse than what we have measured in the past,” said Nicholas Jones, director and senior research adviser. and raising awareness about race and ethnicity in the population division of the US Census Bureau.
Non-Hispanic white Americans continue to be the most common group in all states except California, Hawaii and New Mexico, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
In California, the Hispanic or Latino population officially became the largest racial or ethnic group in the state for the first time. The Hispanic or Latino community now represents 39.4% of Californians, up from 37.6% in 2010.
The census revamped its survey for 2020 to ask US residents more detailed questions about how they identify their race and ethnicity. The Census Bureau reported that these and other technical changes “enable a more complete and accurate description of how people identify themselves.”
The Census Bureau said comparisons on race and ethnicity between 2010 and 2020 should be “made with caution”, although they are “confident that the changes we are seeing from 2010 to 2020 in measures of diversity …likely reflect actual demographic changes in the population over the past 10 years, as well as improvements in question design, data processing and coding.
Here are some other key findings from the data, according to the census:
- The white population remained the largest racial or ethnic group in the United States, “with 204.3 million people identifying as solely white”. Overall, 235.4 million people reported being white alone or in combination with another group. However, the data showed that the “White only” population decreased by 8.6% since 2010.
- The “two or more race population” (also referred to as the multiracial population) has changed significantly over the past decade. The multiracial population was “measured at 9 million people in 2010 and is now 33.8 million people in 2020, an increase of 276%.”
- Meanwhile, the Hispanic or Latino population, which includes people of any race, “was 62.1 million in 2020.” He grew up 23%while the population that was not of Hispanic or Latino origin grew by 4.3% since 2010, according to the census.
The census noted that the 2020 census used the “two separate questions required (one for Hispanic or Latino origin and one for race)” to collect the races and ethnicities of the US population.
Remember: In Census Bureau statistics, race and ethnicity are two separate measures. Ethnicity is reported in two categories – as Hispanic or Latino or not – while race is categorized in one of six broad categories – White, Black or African American, Native American or Alaska Native , Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and one other race. Individuals participating in the Decennial Census may report multiple races, but they will only be coded as having one response for ethnicity.