Which states have seen the most demographic change over the past 1-2 generations? (Last 30 years)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I know many C-D Posters are on the older/middle aged side so impressions of states are often grounded in what you saw growing up or as a young person in your 20s. Often times that gets brought into the discussion ("I was there in the early 90s and..."). even though change happens all around us, when you're not a part of the younger vanguard demographic of change it can be really hard to see whats going on on the ground level.
So whether the change is ethnic, racial, religious or geographical (snowbirds) Id like to hear you alls thoughts. How have the major cities in your state changed or the suburban areas.
Certain states just change demographics alot from generation to generation. Florida, California, Massachusetts/Rhode Island, Minnesota, Texas, are probably the top states for that.
Honorable Mentions to Nevada, Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia.
States that have changed demographically the most in the last 30 years. Either in the national cognizant or just locally.
My own observations:
California:
Has gone from a diverse majority white state to a solid plurality Latino State with a Mexican-american plurality. Central Americans have rapidly increased in California.
The African American Population is pretty small at 5.5% THis is i in contrast to maybe 30 years ago when California Hispanics were more uniformly Mexican
The Asian population was still very large for the time but not nearly 3x larger than the black population like it is now. Asians are 14.6% of California.
It seems California recognize all these changes even if the rest of the country doesnt really.
Florida:
Its gone from a White-Black state to a White-Hispanic state. Much of South Florida has become Caribbean black as opposed to American Black. In addition to this there seems to have been continued an increase northern influence on Florida with older white NY/NJ New England moving down there. Flordia and the rest of the country both seem to acknowledge these changes.
North Carolina: Much the same as Florida but with younger white northerners moving down there and a major increase in Hispanic population especially since 2000. Whereas it was pretty nonexistent before Hispanics are about 10% of North Carolina now. I think these changes are well known in Florida but not nationally
Massachusetts/Rhode Island:
In 1990 Massachusetts was about 89% white Rhode Island was about 90% white. This is not all that different than in 1970 when both states were about 92-94% white.
Massachusetts is 70.7% white as of 2018, and has about 1 million more people than 1989. Its minority population has tripped in the past 30 years. And doubled since 2000. In 2002 Massachusetts public schools were about 76/77% white. Last year they we 59% white. This year they will be 58%.
46% of Massachusetts births in 2019 will be to minorities. In Rhode Island the figure is even lower lively around 51%. In 1990 only one city in Massachusetts was majority minority, in 200 it was 4. Now that numbers stands at around 13 majority-minority cities with many fast approaching that status.
In 1990 Providence was over 60% white. It is now on its second Dominican mayor and is about 45% Latino and 32% white. In addition these states have become less African American and Puerto Rican and much much more West Indian and Dominican. Rhode Island is now the most Dominican state in the nation, and the state with only 39% of its black population having roots in the south. The rest are from the west indies and Africa. In Massachusetts, only 58% of black people are are black american-second lowest after Rhode Island. These two states have some of the smallest shares of Mexican Americans in the country. And Mexican culture is essentially no existent. Yet Rhode Island is the 11th or 12th most Hispanic state in the country. Massachusetts is above the median for racial diversity in the country.
It appears these changes are not known by the outside world. Also I think most of the 8 million residents of these states live in such isolated bubbles they don't fully recognize these changes. Politicians, lawmakers and institution absolutely do, however. But the racial and wealth gap between whites and blacks/Hispanics is just so large there its hard for people to notice- i think. Also racial change is more generational and immigration driven there not as much minorities moving to MA/RI from other places in the US.
I could have included Connecticut but there has been less ethnic change, and the populous cities of CT are not too much different than in 1990, its moreso the suburbs there. Similar to NJ.
Texas:
The state has adopted a Mexican plurality and taken in a TON of immigrants from Asia and Africa compare to 30 years ago. Form what I understand that has dramatically reshaped politics and the feel of Urban Area like Houston Dallas Fort Worth and Austin. I still don't think most people know Texas is majority-minority but It does seem that changes are felt by the local populace. The huge Nigerian and Vietnamese populations are new. As well as the influx of black and white northerners (of all ages) who used to avoid Texas like the plague. Texas' prosperity, like Massachusetts, seems to be driving demographic change.
Minnesota:
Minnesota seems to have embraced and invited more and more diversity. Most notably with a growth in it Somalian population and to a lesser extent with it s Hmong and African American Population. I believe Minnesota and Nevada have the fastest growing share of their populations that identify as black. Minnesota seems to actively want to shed its icy, Scandinavian image and share its growth and prosperity with all kinds of people. Of course when I talk about Demographic change in Minnesota is still confined to the Twin Cities and their immediate suburbs. I think Minnesota's diversification has gotten a lot of spotlight since the Philando Castille tragedy, Senator Omar's rise and some very good basketball players coming out of Minnesota. Minnesota is still very white but seems to be changing quickly amongst the entire working age and youth population. Its another example of a prosperous state attracting a diverse demographic.
I know this is an old thread, but does anyone have stats to back this up? I believe everything else here, but this in particular seems hard to believe.
I know this is an old thread, but does anyone have stats to back this up? I believe everything else here, but this in particular seems hard to believe.
Yea, Massachusetts tracks their birth information.
43% of Births in Massachusetts were to non-white mothers in 2019. So I was off by 3% which is significant.
https://www.mass.gov/doc/2019-birth-report/download Page 14. According to the report, there was no real demographic change form 2017 to 2018. Otherwise had it followed the trend it would have been 44% of births.
Yea, Massachusetts tracks their birth information.
43% of Births in Massachusetts were to non-white mothers in 2019. So I was off by 3% which is significant.
https://www.mass.gov/doc/2019-birth-report/download Page 14. According to the report, there was no real demographic change form 2017 to 2018. Otherwise had it followed the trend it would have been 44% of births.
I know once upon a time. Mixed race children where given the ethnicity of their mother at birth. Not sure if this is still true. I.E someone with a white father and Latina mother would be listed "Latino" in these stats.
I know once upon a time. Mixed race children where given the ethnicity of their mother at birth. Not sure if this is still true. I.E someone with a white father and Latina mother would be listed "Latino" in these stats.
I'm sorry let me be clear for Massachusetts- this is the race is the mother giving birth, not the child. Even if just 1/10 white women had kids with a non white man, it would take the % of children who are white (non mixed, non Hispanic) down to 51.4% in 2019.
It's likely the children being born are slightly less white than the mothers, because some white mothers are having kids with Latino, Asian and Black men.
So in 2019, they identified 57.1% of the Mothers as white which makes sense because Black, Latino and Asian equals about 39.8%. 4.3% of mothers would be Mixed race or other. That makes perfect sense.
In 1990, 78.4% of births in MA were to white mothers. The percentage of minority births doubled between 1990 and 2019.
I think today (2023) we could more safely assume about 46% of births are to minorities, my last estimate was slightly off.
MA even provides the racial ethnicity of each mother.
The largest minority ethnic groups by mother were
Puerto Rican 6.7%
Dominican 4.8%
African American 4.8%
Brazilian 3.3%
African 2.9%
Chinese 2.9%
Indian 2.9%
Cape Verdean 2.1%
58% of MA youth were non-Hispanic white
54% of RI youth were non-Hispanic white
51% of CT youth were non-Hispanic white
The reason MA is slightly less white than RI in the general population is most likely because its adult population is more diverse - it draws more immigrants than CT or RI does and has a more appealing job market.
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 07-24-2023 at 10:32 AM..
I know once upon a time. Mixed race children where given the ethnicity of their mother at birth. Not sure if this is still true. I.E someone with a white father and Latina mother would be listed "Latino" in these stats.
Latinos are already white half the time. Such a weird category in the states.
Latinos are already white half the time. Such a weird category in the states.
According to the 2020 Census, it was 20% of the time.A decline from 53% in Census 2010. Anecdotally there certainly appear to me more Black Latinos than white Latinos in MA and RI. But the supermajority are a mix.
In the city of Boston, less than 13% of Latinos identified as white in the 2020 census.
Even worse for your argument
According to a Pew Social Research Survery
For example, among those who mark their race as White in a standard two-part race question, only 25% say others would describe them as such walking down the street, and only 14% describe their race as White in an open-ended question.
...
Similarly, only 4% of Hispanics described their race as White in an open-ended question
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 07-24-2023 at 01:04 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
