The New Face of Texas is Latino, Now Outnumbering Non-Hispanic Whites
It appears that the new face of Texas is Latino. According to recent data, Latinos comprise around 40.2% of the state’s population, just a nose ahead of non-Hispanic whites, who are 39.8%.
In a nutshell, there are now more Latinos in Texas than non-Hispanic whites. Most of the 12 million Latinos that call Texas home live in five counties: Harris, Bexar, Dallas, Hidalgo, and El Paso.
Particularly, San Antonio is the Texan city where most Latinos live, encompassing almost 64% of the city’s population. Similarly, California and New Mexico are the other states where Latinos account for more of the population than non-Hispanic whites.
Some 39% of Californians are Latino compared to 35% non-Hispanic whites, according to the 2020 Census. In fact, more than half of young Californians are Latinos.
On the other hand, in New Mexico, Latinos make up 50.1% of the population, compared to 34.9% non-Hispanic whites.
There are 13 U.S. states with a Latino population of one million or over in 2021
These states include Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington.
The states experiencing the fastest growth in Latino residents are, believe it or not, North Dakota — up 148% between 2010 and 2020 — and South Dakota — an increase of 75% in the same period, according to Pew.
What these numbers show is that the U.S. is diversifying at a faster pace than expected. And at the head of this demographic and social change are Latinos.
However, this is hardly surprising news. Latinos are the most significant ethnic majority in the U.S. and growing.
According to Pew Research, in 2021, Hispanics living in the U.S. totaled 62.5 million, or 18.9% of the total population, a significant increase from 50.5 million in 2010.
What it means — en arroz y habichuelas — is that one in every five people in the U.S. is a Latino. The median age is 30.5, up from 30.2 in 2020.
Texas is just an example of an increasing trend
Over the past few decades, the U.S. Latino population surged organically. Furthermore, since 2000, we have been the primary contributor to U.S. population growth — 54% of it.
And it’s projected that between now and 2060, the Latino population will comprise 65% of the nation’s population growth.
In 2021 only, those of Mexican origin made up nearly 60% — that would be about 37.2 million people — of all the U.S. Latinos. The second-largest group is those of Puerto Rican descent, making up 5.8 million.
At this rate, projections indicate that in over 30 years, the Latino population will be at 111.2 million, or 28% of the nation’s total population. This would make the U.S. the second-largest Spanish-speaking country in the world.
In short, the U.S. is rapidly turning Latino, and Texas is just an example of this diversification.
