U.S. Census Highlights: Latinos Drive Population Growth, Number of Undocumented Remains Unknown
Yesterday the U.S. Census released its highly anticipated census figures that show the U.S. population grew by 9.7 percent to 308.7 million people. This was the slowest rate of growth since the Great Depression with 60 percent of the growth due to natural birth rates and 40 percent due to immigration.
The Latino population appears to be the driving force for most of the population increases but it will remain to be seen if congressional redistricting will reflect that growth. The Census will not release data on the ethnic breakdown in the U.S. until February 2011. 2009 estimates peg the Latino population at 15.8percent or approximately 48 million people, making them the majority-minority.
What percentage of the Hispanic population is undocumented is unknown. In every census since 1790 every resident is counted where he or she is a citizen or not. The questions of citizenship were not asked on the 2010 form.
California was the most populous state, followed by Texas, New York, then and Florida. Michigan was the only state to decline in population.