Counting Race: How the Census Measures Identity and What Americans Think About It
How the U.S. government measures race has changed substantially since censuses began in 1790. Today, Americans differ on whether the government should ask about race.
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Reflecting a demographic shift, 109 U.S. counties have become majority nonwhite since 2000
Overall, 293 U.S. counties were majority nonwhite in 2018. Most of these are concentrated in California, the South and on the East Coast.
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Who shares your views on race?
Americans are divided along racial lines in their views on the legacy of slavery, the best way to achieve diversity and the value they place on their own racial and ethnic identity. Let’s look at 11 questions from a recent survey to see what you think and how that compares with the rest of the nation.
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Puerto Rico Population
Total U.S. Puerto Rican population mapped by county in 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2013.
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Puerto Rican Population by County
Total U.S. Puerto Rican population mapped by county, including a filter for island-born and mainland-born Puerto Ricans. Data is available from 2000 and 2010.
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Hispanic women no longer account for the majority of immigrant births in the U.S.
Much of the downturn in the share of immigrant births to Hispanics has been driven by a decline in births among Mexican-origin women.
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College faculty have become more racially and ethnically diverse, but remain far less so than students
Around a quarter of college faculty in the U.S. were nonwhite in fall 2017, compared with 45% of students.
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A view of the nation’s future through kindergarten demographics
In 18 states and the District of Columbia, Latino children accounted for at least 20% of public school kindergarten students in 2017.
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The most common age among whites in U.S. is 58 – more than double that of racial and ethnic minorities
The most common age was 11 for Hispanics, 27 for blacks and 29 for Asians as of last July. Multiracial Americans were by far the youngest racial or ethnic group.
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Puerto Rico’s population declined sharply after hurricanes Maria and Irma
The population of Puerto Rico stood at 3.2 million in 2018, its lowest point since 1979 and down sharply from 2017.
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Most U.S. adults feel what happens to their own racial or ethnic group affects them personally
Black Americans are the most likely to say that what happens to people from their racial group affects them personally.
