Thread: Percentage of Hispanics rising in most of Ariz.

Percentage of Hispanics rising in most of Ariz.
Howard Fischer, Tribune

The number of Hispanics in most Arizona counties is increasing far faster than that of other groups.

New figures today from the U.S. Census Bureau, show that the state gained more than 89,000 people who identify themselves as Hispanics in the year ending July 1, 2007. By contrast, the total for all other groups combined was less than 42,000.

In fact, Maricopa County, with 60,671 new Hispanics, gained more people in that group than any other county in the nation.

But what makes the figures even more astounding is that the bigger increase in the pure number of Hispanics came on a much smaller starting base.

In Maricopa County, for example, the year-over-year increase in non-Hispanics was 20,432, just a 0.8 percent boost over the 2006 figure of more than 2.6 million. That, too, was larger than any other county in the nation.

But those additional 60,671 Hispanics, on top of the more than 1.1 million Hispanics in the county a year earlier, translates to a 5.4 percent growth rate.

The net result is that most counties are increasingly Hispanic.

Maricopa County's Hispanic population now is 30.5 percent of the total population. That compares with 29.7 percent a year earlier - and less than 25 percent at the beginning of the decade.

A similar pattern shows up in Pima County, though not as pronounced.

There were 9,963 new Hispanics in a single year, up 3.3 percent from July 1, 2006. The county also added 4,128 of those who do not identify themselves as Hispanic, a 0.6 percent increase.

That moved Hispanics up to 32.7 percent of Pima County's population, up from 32.3 percent in 2006 and 29.3 percent in 2000.

Rapidly growing Pinal County actually recorded a bigger increase, in pure numbers, of non-Hispanics than Hispanics.

But Hispanics still posted an 11.9 percent year-over-year increase in population, versus just 5.7 percent for other groups.

And that, in turn, edged Pinal County's Hispanic share of total population up a tenth of a point, to 29.6 percent.

Similar patterns turned up elsewhere, like in Coconino County where the number of Hispanics grew less than half as much as other groups. But the percentage of growth of Hispanics was nearly three times higher.

Only Greenlee and La Paz counties posted a higher growth rate of non-Hispanics than Hispanics.

La Paz County set itself apart on another front: The Census Bureau reported that 32 percent of its population is 65 or older.

The Census Bureau does not report what percentage of the state's Hispanic increase is due to migration - legal or otherwise - and how much due to natural growth.

But the figures suggest the latter may be the larger factor.

In Maricopa County, for example, more than 40 percent of the population younger than 15 is Hispanic, versus just 30.5 percent for the population as a whole.

That's even more pronounced in Pima County: While 32.7 percent of the population is Hispanic, that figure is more than 50 percent for those younger than 5, and more than 40 percent for the other groups through age 19.

None of that should be surprising: The state Department of Health Services reports the birth rate for Hispanics is twice that of white non-Hispanics.

The indication of how much of Hispanic growth is due to illegal migration could come when the Census Bureau releases its data for population as of July 1, 2008, next year.

That will come six months after Arizona enacted what are believed to be the strongest laws in the country against hiring undocumented workers.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/122480

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This is based on one year old data. How about telling us what is happening now?

It depends on whether we're talking about hispanics who are illegal aliens vs hispanics who are legal immigrants and/or naturalized.

Legal hispanics tend to move away from areas with large concentrations of illegal aliens. As the illegal aliens move out, legal immigrants and US citizens move in.

In addition, how many "aliases" are being counted for each illegal alien?