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County has most whites, Hawaiians; fewest Asians

Hawaii 24/7 Staff

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Asians make up more than one-half of Hawaii’s population. Those with at least a portion of Asian ethnicity account for 56.9 percent of the state’s population.

Hawaii leads the nation with the highest concentration of Asians. California ranks second with 15.8 percent.

The U.S. Census Bureau indicates Asians were the nation’s fastest-growing race or ethnic group in 2012. Their population rose by 530,000, or 2.9 percent, in the preceding year, to 18.9 million, according to Census Bureau annual population estimates. More than 60 percent of this growth in the Asian population came from international migration.

The Asian population is growing most rapidly in the state of South Dakota.

Specifically, Honolulu is the county with the highest percentage of Asian population at 60.9 percent. Oahu is followed by Kauai County (51.4 percent), Maui County (47.7 percent) and Hawaii County (45.7 percent).

Conversely, Hawaii County has the highest percentage of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific islanders, at 34.3 percent. That’s followed by Maui County (27.5 percent), Kauai County (25.8 percent) and Honolulu County (24.4 percent).

Non-Hispanic whites also represented the highest percentage of population in Hawaii County (56.2 percent), followed by Maui County (52 percent), Kauai County (51.3 percent) and Honolulu County (38.3 percent).

Whites made up the second-highest percentage of the population statewide at 43.0 percent, giving Hawaii the lowest percentage of white population in the country. Washington D.C. ranked second at 44.8 percent.

Totals may add up to more than 100 percent because of combinations of races.

Highlights for each race group at the national, state and county levels:

Hispanics

* California had the largest Hispanic population of any state on July 1, 2012 (14.5 million), as well as the largest numeric increase within the Hispanic population since July 1, 2011 (232,000). New Mexico had the highest percentage of Hispanics at 47.0 percent.

* Los Angeles County had the largest Hispanic population of any county (4.8 million) in 2012 and the largest numeric increase since 2011 (55,000). Starr County — on the Mexican border in Texas — had the highest share of Hispanics (95.6 percent).

Blacks

* New York had the largest black or African-American population of any state or equivalent as of July 1, 2012 (3.7 million); Texas had the largest numeric increase since 2011 (87,000). The District of Columbia had the highest percentage of blacks (51.6 percent), followed by Mississippi (38.0 percent).

* Cook, Ill. (Chicago) had the largest black or African-American population of any county in 2012 (1.3 million), and Harris, Texas (Houston) had the largest numeric increase since 2011 (20,000). Holmes, Miss., was the county with the highest percentage of blacks or African-Americans in the nation (83.1 percent).

Asians

* California had both the largest Asian population of any state (6.0 million) in July 2012 and the largest numeric increase of Asians since July 1, 2011 (136,000). Hawaii is our nation’s only majority-Asian state, with people of this group comprising 56.9 percent of the total population.

* Los Angeles had the largest Asian population of any county (1.6 million) in 2012 and the largest numeric increase (25,000) since 2011. At 60.9 percent, Honolulu County had the highest percentage of Asians in the nation.

American Indians and Alaska Natives

* California had the largest American Indian and Alaska Native population of any state in 2012 (1,057,000) and the largest numeric increase since 2011 (13,000). Alaska had the highest percentage (19.5 percent).

* Los Angeles County had the largest American Indian and Alaska Native population of any county in 2012 (232,000), and Maricopa, Ariz., the largest numeric increase (4,000) since 2011. Shannon County, S.D. — on the Nebraska border and located entirely within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation — had the highest percentage (93.5 percent).

Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders

* Hawaii had the largest population of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders of any state (364,000) in 2012. California had the largest numeric increase since 2011 (6,000). Hawaii had the highest percentage (26.2 percent).

* Honolulu had the largest population of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders of any county (238,000) in 2012. Los Angeles County had the largest numeric increase since 2011 (1,100). Hawaii County had the highest percentage (34.3 percent).

Non-Hispanic White Alone

* California had the largest non-Hispanic white alone population of any state in 2012 (15.0 million). Texas had the largest numeric increase in this population group since 2011 (78,000). Maine had the highest percentage of the non-Hispanic white population (94.1 percent).

* Los Angeles had the largest non-Hispanic white alone population of any county (2.7 million) in 2012. Maricopa County, Ariz., had the largest numeric increase in this population since 2011 (24,000). Leslie County, Ky., comprised the highest percentage (98.4 percent) of non-Hispanic whites.

Minorities

* Five states or equivalents were “majority-minority” in 2012: Hawaii (77.2 percent minority), the District of Columbia (64.5 percent), California (60.6 percent), New Mexico (60.2 percent) and Texas (55.5 percent).

* Maverick, Texas, had the largest share (96.8 percent) of its population in minority groups of any county, followed by Webb, Texas (96.4 percent) and Starr, Texas (96.1 percent).

Age Groups

* Two groups of children saw their population decline between 2011 and 2012: those under age 5 (from 20.1 million to just under 20 million) and high school-age children (age 14 to 17) — from 16.9 million to 16.7 million. In contrast, the number of elementary school-age children — age 5 to 13 — rose from 36.9 million to just over 37 million.

* Nationally, the 65-and-older population grew 4.3 percent between 2011 and 2012, to 43.1 million, or 13.7 percent of the total population.

* Florida had the highest percentage of its total population age 65 and older in 2012 (18.2 percent), followed by Maine (17.0 percent) and West Virginia (16.8 percent). Alaska had the lowest percentage (8.5 percent), followed by Utah (9.5 percent) and Texas (10.9 percent).

* Among the nation’s counties, Sumter, Fla., had the highest proportion of its population age 65 and older (49.3 percent), followed by Charlotte, Fla. (36.0 percent) and La Paz, Ariz. (34.9 percent). Chattahoochee, Ga. (3.6 percent) was at the other extreme.

* The 85-and-older population grew by about 3 percent from 2011 to 2012, to almost 5.9 million. The number of centenarians grew to almost 62,000.

* Utah had the highest percentage of its total population under age 5 at 9.0 percent, and Vermont (4.9 percent) the lowest. Among counties, the respective extremes were claimed by Shannon, S.D. (11.6 percent) and Sumter, Fla. (2.2 percent).

* In 2012, there were 197 million working-age adults (age 18-64), representing 61.6 percent of the total population, an increase of about 736,000 people from 2011.

* New Hampshire experienced the largest increase in median age among states from 2011 to 2012, from 41.6 to 42.0. Among counties, the honor belonged to Lake, S.D., whose median age rose 1.4 years to 42.8.

Gender

* There were only 10 states where males made up the majority of the population on July 1, 2012. Alaska had the highest percentage of men at 52.1 percent, followed by Wyoming (51.1 percent), North Dakota (50.8 percent), Nevada (50.4 percent) and Hawaii (50.4 percent).

* The District of Columbia had the highest percentage of females of any state or equivalent at 52.3 percent, followed by Rhode Island (51.6 percent), Maryland (51.6 percent), Delaware (51.5 percent) and Massachusetts (51.5 percent).

— Find out more:
http://www.census.gov

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