July 9 (UPI) — The population of Hispanic people in the United States reached a new high of 59.9 million in 2018, but the rate of growth has slowed in recent years, U.S. census figures indicate.
The figure was up by 1.2 million compared to 2017, and up by 12.1 million compared to 2008, Pew Research Center, which analyzed the data, said Monday.
Pew said the population growth among Hispanics between 2015 and 2018 was 2 percent, down from 2.1 percent from 2010 to 2015 and down from a height of 4.8 percent from 1995 to 2000. Pew cited fewer births and declining immigration from Spanish-speaking countries.
Still, the Hispanic population is among the fastest-growing racial demographics in the United States. Pew said there was “negligible” growth among the white population between 2015 and 2018, and there was less than 1 percent growth of African Americans. Asian Americans had the fastest growth rate at 2.8 percent.
Across the United States, the South saw the fastest Latino population growth during the decade ending in 2018 at 33 percent. The Northeast had a 25 percent growth, the Midwest was 24 percent and the West was 19 percent.
Among individual states, North Dakota had the fastest growth over the decade, at 135 percent. Pew said states with the smallest Hispanic populations saw the fastest growth.
The county with the most Hispanics in the United States was Los Angeles County, with 4.9 million, nearly 50 percent of the population. Rounding out the Top 10 were Bexar and Harris counties in Texas; Miami-Dade County, Fla.; Maricopa County, Ariz.; Cook County, Ill.; and Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties in California.
