Latino population surges in California

Mexicans are Largest Hispanic Group Nationwide and in 40 States

California's Latino population grew nearly three times as fast  as the state as a whole in the last decade, making the state home to more than a quarter of the nation's Latinos. While California's population grew by 10 percent, the 2010 census found, the Latino growth was 27.6 percent, accounting for more than 90 percent of the state's overall population gain. 

Latinos are now are 37.6 percent of all Californians, up more than five percentage points since 2000. That percentage is exactly the same as that of Texas. 

Latinos are expected to become the state's largest ethnic group by mid-decade. Latino youth already make up more than 48% of the state's  student population.
above based upon the reporting of Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee. 

    The U.S. Census Bureau today released a 2010 Census brief on the nation's Hispanic population, which shows the Hispanic population increased by 15.2 million between 2000 and 2010 and accounted for more than half of the total U.S. population increase of 27.3 million. Between 2000 and 2010, the Hispanic population grew by 43 percent, or four times the nation's 9.7 percent growth rate.

     The Hispanic Population: 2010 brief looks at an important part of our nation's changing ethnic diversity with a particular focus on Hispanic origin groups, such as Mexican, Dominican and Cuban.

Detailed Hispanic Origin Distribution

     About three-quarters of Hispanics in the United States reported as Mexican, Puerto Rican or Cuban origin in the 2010 Census. Mexican origin was the largest group, representing 63 percent of the total U.S. Hispanic population — up from 58 percent in 2000. This group increased by 54 percent and saw the largest numeric change (11.2 million), growing from 20.6 million in 2000 to 31.8 million in 2010. Mexicans accounted for about three-fourths of the 15.2 million increase in the total Hispanic population between 2000 and 2010

     The Mexican origin population represented the largest Hispanic group in 40 states, with more than half of these states in the South and West regions of the country, along with two states in the Northeast and all 12 states in the Midwest.

     Puerto Ricans, the second largest group, comprised 9 percent of the Hispanic population in 2010 — down from 10 percent in 2000. The Puerto Rican population grew by 36 percent, increasing from 3.4 million to 4.6 million. Puerto Ricans were the largest Hispanic group in six of the nine states in the Northeast and in one western state — Hawaii, with a population of 44,000.

     The Cuban origin population increased by 44 percent, growing from 1.2 million in 2000 to 1.8 million in 2010. Cubans made up approximately 4 percent of the total Hispanic population in both the 2000 and 2010 Censuses and were the largest Hispanic origin group in Florida in 2010 with a population of 1.2 million.

     Since 2000, three detailed Hispanic origin groups surpassed a population of 1 million: Salvadoran (1.6 million), Dominican (1.4 million) and Guatemalan (1.0 million).

Regional Geographic Distribution

     The Hispanic population grew in every region of the United States between 2000 and 2010, and most significantly in the South and Midwest. The South saw a 57 percent increase in its Hispanic population, which was four times the growth of the total population in the South (14 percent). Significant growth also occurred in the Midwest, where the Hispanic population grew by 49 percent. This was more than 12 times the growth of the total population in the Midwest (4 percent).

     While the Hispanic population grew at a slower rate in the West and Northeast, the regions still saw significant growth between 2000 and 2010. The Hispanic population grew by 34 percent in the West, which was more than twice the growth of the total population in the West (14 percent). The Northeast's Hispanic population grew by 33 percent, or 10 times the growth of the total population in the Northeast (3 percent).

 Latinos accounted for more than half of the nation's growth during the decade and now are 16.3 percent of the U.S. population.
Source:  The Hispanic Population: 2010. U.S. Census.