Populations in 300 counties shift to ‘majority-minority’
As of July 2006, minorities made up more than 50 percent of the population in 303 of the nation’s 3,141 counties, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released last week. The population balance tipped toward “majority-minority” in eight counties in Colorado, Louisiana, Texas, Montana, New Mexico and Virginia during the study period of July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2006.
The minority population, according to the Census Bureau, includes Hispanics and anyone who reports being other than white alone, such as Asians, African-Americans, American Indians, and native Hawaiians. Los Angeles County, Calif., had the largest minority population in the country in 2006 — 7 million, or 71 percent of its total. However, Starr County, Texas, on the Mexican border had the highest proportion of minorities in its population, 98 percent.
The Census Bureau report, which is available at
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/010482.html, also showed that four of the 10 counties with the highest proportion of people aged 65 and older were in Florida. Seven of the 10 counties with the highest proportion of residents under five years old were in Texas, South Dakota and Utah.
