Latinos outnumber non-Hispanic whites in Texas, according to 2022 census

The great fear of Trumpism, that the United States will stop being a white, English-speaking country, is on its way to becoming a reality. Latinos already outnumber non-Hispanic whites in Texas, according to the latest U.S. census data. Latinos (or Hispanics, the terms are interchangeable) represent around 40.2% of the population of Texas, slightly ahead of non-Hispanic whites, who account for 39.8% of the census. The trend is not limited to Texas, since in California and New Mexico Latinos have long been in the majority.

The results are not surprising, since the Latino population in Texas and in the country as a whole has increased steadily in recent decades. In 2020, the census revealed that just over a quarter of all children in the U.S. are Latino, an increase of more than a million in just a decade.

According to data from the Pew Research Institute, the U.S. Hispanic population reached 62.1 million in 2020, representing 19% of all Americans and the second-largest demographic group in the country. According to the same census, 39% of Californians were also Hispanic, slightly higher than whites (35%), as were 49.3% of New Mexicans. Therefore, there are three states where the Hispanic or Latino population is the majority. New Mexico has had the highest percentage of Hispanics since the end of the first decade of the century.

Texas’ demographic shift probably occurred around 2022, according to the Federal Census Bureau. For years, unofficial estimates had shown that Latinos were on track to outnumber non-Hispanic whites, reflecting decades of transformation. Of the estimated 12 million Latinos living in Texas, many are concentrated in San Antonio, the city with the highest percentage (around 64%).

After the 40.2% of the Texas population that is Latino or Hispanic, the next groups are “non-Hispanic whites” (39.8%), Black (13.4%), Asian (5.7%), two or more races (2.3%), American Indian/ Alaska Native (1.1%), and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (0.2%), according to the racial classification that is used almost on a daily basis in the U.S., where it is often mandatory to define yourself on the basis of race and ethnicity. The data comes from a census dated July 1, 2022. “The figures add up to more than 100% because Latinos can be of any race,” warn the official statistics, adding complexity to an identity that the Administration intends to define as unique.

Texas was mostly white from 1885 until 2004, when the non-Hispanic white population first fell below 50%. It is the second most populous state behind California, where people of color have represented 95% of its population growth in the last decade, according to the 2020 census. In Texas, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada and New Mexico, non-Hispanic whites represent less than 50% of the population. Parallel to this demographic growth, the use of Spanish is also quickly advancing. It was the most widely spoken non-English language in American homes (62%) in 2019, 12 times more than the next four most common (Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Arabic). More than half (55%) of Spanish speakers were born in the U.S.

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