Last modified: Wednesday, May 16, 2012
IU experts: Census estimates show increased diversity in Indiana
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2012
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The latest U.S. Census Bureau population estimates by race and ethnicity show that Indiana continues to become more diverse, even as growth in each of the state's large racial and ethnic groups slowed in 2011.
This increasing diversity is most pronounced in Indiana's child population, according to the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.
The majority of Indiana's 6.52 million residents in 2011 are non-Hispanic whites (5.3 million), followed by African-Americans (590,885), Hispanics (403,796) and Asians (107,403). All other non-Hispanic single-race categories such as Native American, Hawaiian or Pacific Islander combined to total 16,549. The number of Hoosiers identifying themselves as multi-race now stands at roughly 99,100.
The Hispanic population showed the largest growth of any race or ethnic group in the state with roughly 11,560 new residents added from 2010 to 2011. This change was 2½ times greater than the black population's increase of 4,620 residents -- the second-largest increase of any racial or ethnic group in Indiana.
The state's non-Hispanic white population increased by 4,340 in the past year, while the Asian population added 3,020 residents. The Hispanic population alone accounted for 44 percent of Indiana's total growth in 2011.
The growth in each of these groups was much lower than their average annual increase from 2000 to 2010. Indiana's Hispanic population grew by an average of 17,510 residents per year in the past decade, while the black population averaged 7,660 new residents per year. Over the same period, the state's white and Asian populations grew by an average of 6,430 and 4,320 residents per year, respectively.
Overall, Indiana's population increased by 0.4 percent from 2010 to 2011 -- its lowest one-year growth rate since 1988. Last year, the U.S. had its lowest annual rate of population growth since the mid-1940s, according to the Census Bureau.
Because of the state's varying growth trends in recent years, Indiana has become more diverse. The non-Hispanic white population's share of Indiana's total dropped to 81.3 percent in 2011 from 86 percent in 2000. Over the same period, the state's black population climbed from 8.4 percent of the total to 9.1 percent. Indiana's Hispanic residents now account for 6.2 percent of the state's population, compared to 3.5 percent in 2000.
"While Indiana's racial and ethnic makeup has shifted, the state remains less diverse than the nation," said Matt Kinghorn, IBRC state demographer. "The share of Indiana's population that is non-Hispanic white is well above the U.S. mark of 63.4 percent. These data also reveal that the Hispanic share of the U.S. population is nearly three times greater than Indiana's."
Greater diversity in youth population
The nature of the growth within the state's child population underscores Indiana's growing racial and ethnic diversity.
In 2011, the number of non-Hispanic white residents younger than 18 dropped by 1 percent. This rate of change equates to a decline of 11,460 white children in the past year. The number of black children in the state fell by 1,480 from 2010 to 2011 -- a 0.8 percent decline.
By contrast, the Hispanic population younger than 18 increased by 3,720 (2.4 percent increase), and the number of Asian children grew by 810 residents (3.2 percent). In all, the state's total child population dropped by roughly 7,700 residents in 2011 -- down 0.5 percent from 2010.
Because of its strong growth in the younger age groups, Hispanic residents now account for 9.9 percent of the total Indiana child population, compared to 5 percent of the state's population age 18 or older. By contrast, non-Hispanic white residents make up 73.7 percent of the state's population younger than 18, compared to 83.8 percent of the adult population. Indiana's black residents account for 11 percent of the child population and 8.5 percent of the adult population.
Due to this slight decline in child population coupled with the aging of the baby boom generation, Indiana's median age edged up slightly from 37.0 in 2010 to 37.1 in 2011. Despite this increase, the state remains comparatively young. Indiana's 2010 median age is a shade higher than neighboring Illinois (36.8) but is roughly two years younger than Michigan (39.2) and Ohio (39.1) and one year below the Kentucky mark (38.2). Indiana is also younger than the U.S., which has a median age of 37.3 in 2011.
Local population shifts
Most of the counties with the greatest concentration of Hispanic residents are found in northern Indiana. In Lake, Elkhart, Clinton and Cass counties, more than 13 percent of the population is Hispanic. These four are followed by Noble (9.8 percent), Marion (9.6 percent), Marshall (8.8 percent) and Porter (8.6 percent) counties.
Among counties where Hispanics account for at least 2 percent of the population, Boone County had the fastest Hispanic growth rate in 2011 (9.9 percent increase), followed by Wells (7.4 percent), Jennings (7.4 percent), Starke (7.3 percent) and Carroll (7.0 percent) counties. In each of these counties, however, the Hispanic population still represents a relatively small share of the county total compared to the state average.
Hamilton County had the state's largest numeric increase in the black population at 890 new residents in 2011, followed by Hendricks (590), Allen (570), Tippecanoe (540) and Porter (520) counties. Among counties with sizeable black populations, Bartholomew County's 11.4 percent increase last year was the state's most rapid growth rate. Porter and Gibson counties also had a growth rate above 10 percent.
As with the Hispanic population, however, the number of black residents relative to the total in these counties is still well below the state average. In terms of absolute numbers, Marion County and Lake County combine to account for 61.5 percent of Indiana's total black population.
Marion County leads the state with an Asian population of 18,969, followed by Hamilton County with 13,923 Asian residents. The university communities of Tippecanoe County (6.4 percent of all residents) and Monroe County (5.5 percent) had the highest concentrations of Asian residents, followed by Hamilton County (4.9 percent) and Bartholomew County (3.7 percent).
For more information about these estimates, go to the Population topic page at STATS Indiana.
The Indiana Business Research Center is part of a national network of State Data Centers and acts as the official state representative to the Census Bureau on matters relating to the census and population estimates with support from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. These figures are posted on Hoosiers by the Numbers and STATS Indiana.
Editors: Please note that Hispanic is an ethnicity, not a race. Hispanic residents may be of any race. All references to race groups in this release exclude Hispanic residents of that race.
