Thread: State's Hispanic population grows 23 percent (Wisconsin)

http://www.gazetteextra.com/census_minorities081105.asp

State's Hispanic population grows 23 percent

(Published Thursday, August 11, 2005 07:48:48 AM CDT)

Associated Press

Wisconsin's Hispanic population grew by 23 percent from 2000 to 2004, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday.

It said the state's Hispanic population grew from 192,291 in 2000 to 237,200 in 2004, and now constitutes 4.3 percent of Wisconsin's total.

The number of Asians increased 16.0 percent in the state to 119,633, blacks 7.2 percent to 353,268, American Indians 4.5 percent to 73,068 and whites 2.2 percent to 5,016,917, the Census Bureau said.

The agency put Wisconsin's total population at 5,509,026, up 2.7 percent from 2000.

The number of Hispanics in nine counties grew by at least 1,000 from 2000 to 2004, led by Milwaukee County where the population grew by 14,647 or 17.8 percent. The largest percentage increase, 41.4 percent to 12,298, was in Brown County.

Brown County Executive Carol Kelso said good-paying jobs in the meatpacking industry had attracted Hispanics there.

"They find that it's a wonderful place to raise a family, and the word gets out to their extended families," she said.

Olegario Ledesma, a volunteer with Milwaukee social service and employment agency Voces de la Frontera, said immigrants are attracted to southeastern Wisconsin for similar reasons such as jobs, family and more affordable housing than found in southern California and elsewhere.

Maria Monreal-Cameron, president and chief executive officer of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin, said the latest statistics are a great precursor to her organization's 26th annual national convention in Milwaukee next month.

"People come here, they get themselves gainfully employed, they then tell their compadres and other family members that the state is a great place to come and raise families," she said. "Certainly there many struggles, but they address them and overcome them."

Other counties with large increases in Hispanic population from 2000 to 2004 were Rock, 2,060 or 34.6 percent; Dane County, 4,823 or 33.5 percent; Sheboygan, 1,145 or 30.2 percent; Walworth, 1,813 or 29.5 percent; Kenosha, 2,669 or 24.8 percent; Waukesha, 1,772 or 18.6 percent; and Racine, 2,761 or 18.4 percent.

Overall, Wisconsin's population grew by more than 216,000 people since early 2000, the state Department of Administration estimates. Wisconsin was home to 5,580,000 people as of Jan. 1, according to figures the department released Wednesday. The state's population was 5,363,715 on April 1, 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Dane County added the most residents; 31,771 people moved into the county, Department of Administration officials said. Waukesha County was second with 16,441 new residents and Brown County was third with 13,746.

Madison added more people than any other city, with 13,681 new residents. Sun Prairie was second with 3,850.

State statutes require the Department of Administration to figure population estimates annually. Department workers make the estimates using vehicle registrations, tax filings, school enrollments and birth and death records.

ON Wisconsin, ON Wisconsin....well on your way to the TOILET BOWL, eh?

I guess you gave up on the Rose Bowl?

Why not, the roses aren't grown here anymore anyway.