Politics

More Signs of a Hispanic Boom

By Chris Good
Saved Stories

The U.S. Census Bureau has released more state-level demographic data from the 2010 Census, and with the latest batch of states come more signs of a Hispanic boom.

The bureau is releasing state-level data gradually over February and March. In the latest five states, released this week, the Hispanic population grew both in percent of the state's total population and in raw numbers:

  • Illinois: 15.8 percent (2,027,578), up from 12.3 percent (1,530,262) in 2000
  • Oklahoma: 8.9 percent (332,007), up from 5.2 percent (1,79,304) in 2000
  • South Dakota: 2.7 percent (22,119), up from 1.4 percent (10,903) in 2000
  • Texas: 37.6 percent (9,460,921), up from 32 percent (6,669,666) in 2000
  • Virginia: 7.9 percent (631,825), up from 4.7 percent (329,540) in 2000

The growth was significant, though perhaps not as dramatic as we saw in the first states the bureau released. See those Hispanic population shifts below:

  • Arkansas: 6.4 percent (186,050), up from 3.2 percent (2,586,534) in 2000
  • Indiana: 6 percent (389,707), up from 3.5 percent (214,536) in 2000
  • Iowa: 5 percent (151,544), up from 2.8 percent (82,473) in 2000
  • Louisiana: 4.2 percent (192,560), up from 2.4 percent (77,083) in 2000
  • Maryland: 8.2 percent (470,632), up from 4.3 percent (227,916) in 2000
  • Mississippi: 2.7 percent (81,481), up from 1.4 percent (39,569) in 2000
  • New Jersey: 17.7 percent (1,555,144), up from 13.3 percent (1,117,191) in 2000
  • Vermont: 1.5 percent (9,208), up from .9 percent (5,504) in 2000

As argued in the previous post, the nation's growing Hispanic population could be the political macrostory of the next fifty years. Hispanics typically vote Democratic--67 percent for Obama according to CNN exit polls in 2008, solidly Democratic again in key races in the 2010 midterms--and Hispanic population growth could benefit Democrats in national and statewide elections. It could also, perhaps, change the political calculus on issues like immigration, where hardliners have won elections by employing heated rhetoric that alienates Hispanic votes.

All data taken from the Census Bureau's online database.