EMBARGOED UNTIL: 12:01 A.M. EST, NOVEMBER 29, 2001 (THURSDAY)
Public Information Office CB01-CN.192
301-457-3691/301-457-3620 (fax)
301-457-1037 (TDD)
e-mail: 2000usa@census.gov
Nicholas Jones
301-457-2402
Amy Symens Smith
301-457-2461
People Who Reported Two or More Races Are Young
and Tend to Live in the West
Radio Soundbites
People reporting more than one race in Census 2000 were more likely to
be under 18 than those reporting only one race 42 percent compared with 25
percent, a new analysis released today by the Commerce Department's Census
Bureau shows.
The Census Bureau report also found that 40 percent of the Two or more
races population lived in the West and about 1-in-3 were of Hispanic
origin. (People of Hispanic origin may be of any race.)
One in a series of Census 2000 briefs, The Two or More Races
Population: 2000 [pdf], showed that 6.8 million people, or 2.4 percent
of the total population, reported more than one race in the census. It was
the first census that allowed individuals to self-identify with more than
one race.
Other highlights:
By region
- Of all people who reported more than one race in Census 2000,
40 percent lived in the West, 27 percent in the South, 18 percent in
the Northeast and 15 percent in the Midwest.
- The West also had the highest proportion of its population reporting
more than one race. In the West, 4.3 percent of all respondents
reported more than one race, compared with 2.3 percent in the
Northeast, 1.8 percent in the South and 1.6 percent in the Midwest.
By state
- Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of all people who reported more than
one race lived in just 10 states: California, New York, Texas,
Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Washington, Michigan, and
Ohio. These states contained 49 percent of the total population.
- California (1.6 million) was the only state with a Two or more races
population greater than 1 million. It was followed by New York
(590,000) and Texas (515,000). These three states accounted for
40 percent of the total Two or more races population.
- There were 14 states where the population reporting more than one
race exceeded the U.S. rate of 2.4 percent. Hawaii ranked highest
(21 percent). It was followed at a distance by Alaska (5.4 percent),
California (4.7 percent) and Oklahoma (4.5 percent).
By county
- Four counties in Hawaii had between 19 percent and 29 percent of
their populations reporting more than one race, while no other county
in the U.S. exceeded 12 percent. The majority of counties in Hawaii,
Alaska and California, as well as counties in eastern Oklahoma, had
much higher proportions reporting more than one race than the U.S.
level of 2.4 percent.
- Higher proportions of people reporting more than one race also were
concentrated in metropolitan counties along the New England and
Mid-Atlantic coast.
- Counties with lower percentages reporting more than one race were
likely to be in nonmetropolitan counties in the Midwest and South.
By place
- New York City, with nearly 400,000, and Los Angeles, with nearly
200,000, had the largest number of people reporting more than one
race. These places are the two largest in the country. Four other
places (Chicago, Houston, San Diego and Honolulu) had
Two or more races populations greater than 50,000.
- Among places of 100,000 or more population, the highest proportion of
the Two or more races population was in Honolulu, with 15 percent.
But, places with populations between 100,000 and 200,000 tended to
have higher proportions of more than one race reporting than places
with populations greater than 200,000.
A listing of released and forthcoming Census 2000 briefs can be found
on the Census Bureau's Web site at
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs.html, including briefs on topics such as race, Hispanic origin, gender and housing.
available free from Adobe.
