Census milestone: Hispanics make up 1 in 6 Americans

Latinos accounted for more than half of the U.S. population increase over the past decade, exceeding estimates in most states as they crossed a new census milestone: 50 million, or 1 in 6 Americans.

Meanwhile, more than 9 million Americans checked two or more race categories on their 2010 census forms, up 32 percent from 2000, a sign of burgeoning multiracial growth.

The Census Bureau on Thursday released its first set of national-level findings from the 2010 count on race and migration, detailing a decade in which rapid minority growth, aging whites and the housing boom and bust were the predominant story lines...

"These are big demographic changes," said Mark Mather, an associate vice president at the nonprofit Population Reference Bureau. "There is going to be some culture shock, especially in communities that haven't had high numbers of immigrants or minorities in the past.

"By 2050, we may have an entirely new system of defining ourselves," he said...

"Hispanics and immigrant minorities are providing a much-needed tonic for an older, largely white population which is moving into middle age and retirement," said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution who analyzed many of the census figures. "They will form the bulk of our labor force growth in the next decade as they continue to disperse into larger parts of the country."...

Among census findings released Thursday:

•The number of non-Latino whites, whose median age is now 41, edged up slightly to 196.8 million. Declining birthrates meant their share of the total U.S. population dropped over the past decade from 69 percent to roughly 64 percent.

•In about 10 states, the share of children who are minorities has passed 50 percent, up from five states in 2000. The states are Mississippi, Georgia, Maryland, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, California, New Mexico and Hawaii.

•The number of Asians grew by 43 percent over the past decade. They were tied with Latinos as the fastest-growing demographic group. For the first time, Asians also had a larger numeric gain than African-Americans, who remained the second-largest minority group, at 37.7 million.

CAIRCO Notes:

Dont you just love racist comments like this? "Hispanics and immigrant minorities are providing a much-needed tonic for an older, largely white population..."

Turn it on it's head and see how well that will fly among the multicultural cultists: "Whites are providing a much-needed tonic for younger, largely minority Hispanic population..."