Hispanic growth in area up 57%
By CAITLIN HEANEY
Evening Sun Reporter
Article Launched: 08/08/2008 09:41:30 AM EDT

Adams and York counties' Hispanic populations were among the 15 highest-growing in the state from 2000 to 2007, census information released Thursday revealed.

Adams County ranked 11th in the state for Hispanic-population growth since the last federal census in 2000, according to census bureau estimates for 2007 released by the Pennsylvania State Data Center.

Statistics show the county's Hispanic population grew from 3,323 to 5,305 - or 59.6 percent - between 2000 and 2007.

York County ranked 14th in the same category with a Hispanic population that grew 56.9 percent, from 11,377 to 17,724, according to the statistics.

The federal government conducts a census every 10 years. The census bureau annually updates population statistics with estimates based on birth and death records and migration statistics, said Kevin McCullough, senior research coordinator for the Pennsylvania State Data Center.

Forest County saw the highest percentage increase in Hispanic population from 2000 to 2007, growing 410 percent, from 60 to 306 people.

But the recently released information noted Forest County's population and demographics have shifted since a state correctional institution was built there in 2004.

Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Lackawanna, Carbon, Wayne, Franklin, Schuylkill and Cumberland counties, in that order, rounded out the top 10 counties with the highest percentage increase in Hispanic population between 2000 and 2007, according to census data.

The Hispanic population typically has been largest in urban locations, but the population now is starting to emerge in other areas as well, said Felicia Dell, director of York County's planning commission. She said growth outside of the urban area could have to do with local industry.

In Adams County, for example, the Hispanic population's growth might be related to orchard activity, with some Hispanic orchard workers choosing to take jobs locally rather than going elsewhere when work ends, Dell said.

"Where the population is growing around the county is probably more of a surprise to us than the actual numbers," Dell said.

Counties whose overall populations have been increasing also are seeing a corresponding increase in diversity, according to Sue Copella, director of the Pennsylvania State Data Center.

"Pennsylvania's becoming more diverse, as is every other state in the country," Copella said. "If you have a large population increase, you're going to have an increase in your minorities, Hispanics, what have you."

And Adams and York counties' populations are growing as a result of migration, Copella said. From 2000 to 2007, Adams County's population grew from 91,292 to 100,779, and York County's from 381,751 to 421,049, according to census data.

The decennial census takes into account everyone living in the United States at that time, regardless of immigration status, McCullough said.

But the annual estimated updates do not break down the information about whether the people living in a location are illegal or legal residents, relying instead on documented information like birth records, he said.

"All you get is a count of people that are being added or changed," McCullough said. "There's no way to tell which way legal or illegal immigration is involved in that particular concept."

York County consistently has exceeded the pace of growth compared to the rest of the state, and current statistics are comparable with how the county has grown for decades, Dell said.

"We see it in the work that we do, and we see it in the number of building permits and the number of traffic," she said. "We don't find the numbers that startling."

Migration has been seen along Pennsylvania's southern and eastern borders, drawing in residents from Maryland, New Jersey and New York, Copella said. Living in Pennsylvania probably is cheaper than living in Maryland, she said, and the commute from York and Adams counties southward is easy.

People from Maryland are not the only ones migrating to the York area, according to Dell. People from areas such as Lancaster and Harrisburg also are moving in, and some commute back there for work, she said.

But people are not just moving into Pennsylvania. Residents also are moving out of the state, Copella said.

"It's not a one-way street," she said.
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