Almost Half of America’s Gen Z Population Belongs to A Minority Group

June 28, 2016

This article is included in these additional categories:

African-American | Asian-American | Boomers & Older | Demographics & Audiences | Hispanic | Teens & Younger | Youth & Gen X

CensusBureau-Minority-Share-US-Population-by-Age-Group-Jun2016Asian-Americans were again the fastest-growing minority group in the US last year, marking the fourth consecutive year in which their population growth has outpaced that of Hispanic Americans, reports the Census Bureau in newly-released estimates. In fact, Asian-Americans’ population growth rate of 3.4% was larger than the rate of increase in 2014 and 2013, reaching 21 million as of July 2015.

The Hispanic population grew by a relatively smaller 2.2% (slightly above the previous year’s growth rate), but to a much larger 56.6 million. As such, Hispanics accounted for 17.6% of the population as of July 2015.

Other race or ethnic groups also grew between July 2014 and 2015:

  • The black or African-American population grew by 1.3% to 46.3 million;
  • The number of American Indians and Alaska Natives increased by 1.5% to slightly more than 6.6 million; and
  • The Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders population grew by 2.4% to 1.5 million.

The various minority groups’ growth continues to be due to different factors. For Hispanics and African-Americans, growth was primarily due to natural increases (births outweighing deaths). But for Asian-Americans, net migration was the main driver of population growth.

As a result of the increases in minority groups, the US’ minority population (all groups other than non-Hispanic single-race whites) climbed to almost 123.5 million people, accounting for 38.4% of the total population. By contrast, the non-Hispanic white-alone population grew by just 0.1%, totaling 198 million. That population is much older than the minority population; the median age of the non-Hispanic white-alone population was 43.3 years, while it was 28.8 for the Hispanic population and under 35 for all non-Hispanic races save non-Hispanic Asians (36.5).

The relative youth of the minority population means that a majority (50.3%) of children under 5 belong to a minority group. Looking at various age groups, the data indicates that:

  • Some 48.5% of Americans under the age of 18 are minorities (any group other than non-Hispanic single-race whites), as are 49% of Americans born since 2000;
  • Minorities represent 46.1% of 14-17-year-olds;
  • Minorities comprise 45.4% of the 18-24 bracket;
  • Some 42.8% of Americans aged 25-44 belong to a group other than non-Hispanic whites;
  • Fewer than one-third (31.7%) of Americans aged 45-64 are minorities; and
  • About 1 in 5 Americans aged 65+ (22.2%) or 85+ (18.5%) are minorities.

Meanwhile, in other findings:

  • California housed the most Hispanics of any state as of July 1, 2015, at 15.2 million, while Texas had the largest numerical increase (more than 250,000) and New Mexico the highest percentage of Hispanics (48%);
  • California also had the largest Asian population, at 6.5 million and the largest numerical increase (almost 170,000); and
  • New York had the largest black or African-American population, at 3.8 million.

See here for details about the Asian-American population’s use of the internet.

Chart-Library-Ad-1

Explore More Articles.

Marketing Charts Logo

Stay on the cutting edge of marketing.

Sign up for our free newsletter.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This