Thursday, April 25, 2024

Latinos in Texas to become the largest population by 2020

For many years, the prospect that Latinos would become the state’s largest population group has been a question of “when” and not “if.”

With growth among the Latino population in Texas continuing to easily outpace growth among white Texans, it’s likely the state will reach that demographic milestone as soon as 2022. That’s according to the state demographer and new population estimates released yesterday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The new figures, which account for the state’s population growth through July 2017, reflect the extent to which the white population growth rate pales in comparison to growth among Texans of color since 2010. That disparity has set the Latino community on its way to becoming a plurality of the state’s population.

According to the study, Texas has gained almost four times as many Latino residents than white residents since 2010. Among the state’s largest counties, Tarrant County was home to the most rapid growth of Latino residents; in the last 8 years, Latinos have expanded their presence in Tarrant by almost 23 percent, easily outpacing their overall growth rate in the state of about 18 percent.

Nationally, Texas held onto its years-long lead as the state that has experienced the largest annual numeric increase of Latino residents since 2010. The state also continued to be home to counties with some of the highest shares of Latino residents.

KERA NEWS