Posted on March 31, 2011

The Polarised Race Map of America: Census Shows Midwest Emptying Out as Growing Minority Groups Cluster on Opposite Sides of the Country

Daily Mail (London), March 31, 2011

New census maps reveal the stark geographical divide between America’s black and Hispanic populations as they become increasingly concentrated on opposite ends of the country.

The U.S. black and Hispanic populations are mostly concentrated in the South–but whereas the black population is centred in the Southeast, Hispanics are mostly in the Southwest.

The maps come as the U.S. Census Bureau finished releasing all of its ‘state redistricting’ file information from the 2010 census.

The biggest general population rises were in the Southwest and Southeast, but the largest falls came in the Midwest, according to 2010 Census Bureau data.

General population growth continued to be mostly-concentrated in suburban metropolitan counties while many rural areas–such as the Great Plains–continue to shrink, reported New Geography.

This can be seen even more starkly when dividing counties by those growing faster or slower than the average in the U.S.

Although Hispanics are concentrated in the Southwest, other areas of the South such as Alabama have posted significant gains in Hispanic population share.

In many South states, the Hispanic population has doubled on ten years ago, with Hispanics outstripping whites for the first time in New Mexico–46 to 40 per cent.

But while the Hispanic population is mostly in the Southwest, there are also a large number in the Northwest and Southeast.

The so-called ‘reverse’ Great Migration of black people from the north to the south has been heavily documented, but these results show less of a general migration.

Some cities in the North and South are becoming magnets for black people, but other areas traditionally popular with black people like Chicago are becoming less popular.

The numbers on the legend can be multiplied by 100 to get population percentages.

Census statistics released last week showed the number of Hispanics in the U.S. reached 50million in 2010, with one in every six Americans now a Latino.

They now represent 16 per cent of the U.S. population of 309million.

Minority groups were behind an unprecedented 90 per cent of total U.S. population growth since 2000, due to immigration and higher Latino birth rates.

Reasons for the rise, which exceeded the Census Bureau’s estimates in around 40 states, include an influx of immigrants during the housing boom.

South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee were the top three states with the highest Hispanic growth. By the mid-century, minorities are expected to make up the majority of the population.