Random Samplings

Majority of the Black Population Lived in the South

Written by: Sonya Rastogi, Tallese D. Johnson, Elizabeth M. Hoeffel and Malcolm P. Drewery, Jr.

The Black population was highly concentrated in counties in the South.  In 106 counties, the Black alone-or-in-combination population represented 50 percent or more of the total county population.  All of these counties were located in the South except for the city of St. Louis, MO, which is considered a county equivalent. These patterns were similar for the Black alone population.

Concentrations of Blacks outside of the South tended to be in counties located within metropolitan statistical areas.  There were 317 counties where the Black alone-or-in-combination population was 25.0 percent to 49.9 percent of the county population, and only 17 of these counties were not in the South.  Of these 17 counties, 15 were in metro areas.  This pattern was similar for the Black alone population.

Although the Black alone-or-in-combination population and the Black alone population were not as concentrated in counties in midwestern states, in some metro areas, such as around Chicago, IL and Detroit, MI, the proportion Black was much higher than the national average of 13 percent.  Also, in some metro areas in the West, such as around San Francisco, CA and Sacramento, CA, the proportion Black was above the national average.    

The Black population in the South experienced mixed growth – some counties experienced an increase, while others experienced a decline.  Among the 1,558 counties with a Black alone-or-in-combination population over 1,000 people, over one-third (536 counties) had an increase of 25 percent or more from 2000 to 2010.  On the other hand, 100 counties had a decrease of over 10 percent.  The Black alone-or-in-combination population in counties located in northeastern states such as Maine, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania grew significantly, as well as counties in the South, specifically Florida, which had a number of counties that grew by 25 percent or more. 

Large growth in the Black alone-or-in-combination population also occurred in the West and sections of the Midwest.  Counties in Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, and Washington grew substantially between 2000 and 2010.  The Midwest had pockets of high growth in states such as Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois.

The Black alone-or-in-combination population in the South experienced the largest percentage decline between 2000 and 2010.  Counties located in the southern states such as Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia experienced greater declines in the Black alone-or-in-combination population compared with the rest of the nation.  The Black alone population had similar results.

Black and White Multiple-Race Population More Than Doubled

People who reported their race as both Black and White more than doubled from about 785,000 in 2000 to 1.8 million in 2010. This group’s share of the multiple-race Black population increased from 45 percent in 2000 to 59 percent in 2010.

For more information on the Black population, see the 2010 Census Brief, The Black Population: 2010.

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2010 Census Shows the White Population Has Become More Diverse

Written by: Lindsay Hixson, Bradford B. Hepler and Myoung Ouk Kim

The largest race group in the United States – the White population – has become more diverse over the past decade as evidenced by the growth of Hispanics identifying as White and the growth of Whites identifying with multiple races.

Hispanics Comprised Three-Fourths of the Growth of the White Population

The White alone-or-in-combination population increased by 7 percent, from 216.9 million in 2000 to 231.0 million in 2010.  Most of this growth was a result of the increase in the White Hispanic population, which grew by 56 percent between 2000 and 2010.  Of the 231.0 million White alone-or-in-combination population in the 2010 Census, 29.2 million or 13 percent reported they were Hispanic, up from 9 percent in 2000. 

Whites who reported one race and identified as Hispanic accounted for 70 percent of the growth of the White alone-or-in-combination population.  Multiple-race Whites who identified as Hispanic accounted for another 4 percent of the growth of the White alone-or-in-combination population.  Thus, Hispanics accounted for about three-fourths of the increase in the White alone-or-in-combination population.

On the other hand, non-Hispanic single-race Whites contributed to only 16 percent of the growth of the White alone-or-in-combination population from 2000 to 2010. Non-Hispanic multiple-race Whites accounted for the remaining 10 percent of the growth.

White Multiple-Race Reporting Increased by 37 Percent

The multiple-race White population increased by 2 million, an increase of 37 percent in the last decade.  The majority of the increase of the multiple-race White population was driven by the growth of two race combinations.  Over half of this growth was attributed to White and Black, and over one-third was due to White and Asian.  The White and Black population grew by 134 percent or over 1 million people.  The White and Asian population increased by 87 percent or more than 750,000 people over the decade. 

For more information on the White population, see the 2010 Census Brief, The White Population: 2010.

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What About the 90+?

Written by: Wan He, Mark Muenchrath, Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau

Is your grandmother or great-grandmother 90 or older, widowed, living in a nursing home, and experiencing one or more disabilities? If so, she is not alone. In 2006-2008, there were 1.3 million women age 90 and older in the United States, representing three-fourths of the total 90-and-older population. Among the 90-plus women, eight out of 10 were widowed, four out of 10 lived alone, a quarter lived in a nursing home, and the vast majority had at least one disability.

People 90 and older nearly tripled from 720,000 in 1980 to almost 2 million in 2010 and are projected to quadruple by 2050. Their share among the older population (65 and older) grew from 2.8 percent in 1980 to 4.7 percent in 2010 and is projected to reach about 10 percent in 2050. Can you imagine a society, 40 years from now, where 20 percent of the total population will be a person age 65 and older and one in 10 of them is someone 90 or older?

The implications for the family and our society of this growing population are likely to be significant. The older people get the more likely they are to be limited by disabilities, which may make fully taking care of themselves difficult.

An older person’s likelihood of living in a nursing facility increases sharply with age. While only 1 percent of people in their upper 60s and 3 percent in their upper 70s were in nursing homes, the proportion rose to 20 percent for those in their lower 90s, more than 30 percent for people in their upper 90s, and nearly 40 percent for centenarians. A quarter of the 90-plus women lived in a nursing home, compared with about 15 percent of the 90-plus men.

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A Nation Still on the Move But Less Transient Than Before

Written by: Alison Fields

Although many of us still move over the course of a year, we are now less likely to do so. The percentage of people who changed residences in the last year ─ between 2010 and 2011 ─ reached the lowest level since the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey began collecting such information in 1948.

We used to be a much more mobile society. In the mid-1980s, about 20 percent of us moved during the previous year. In 2007, prior to the latest recession, 13.2 percent of us had moved in the previous year. The following year, the rate plunged to a then-record low of 11.9 percent before rebounding a bit to 12.5 percent in 2009. The 2010 rate was not statistically different from the 2009 rate.

The Census Bureau today released four statistical products relating to migration that collectively paint a vivid portrait of our nation’s movers, describing their characteristics and the nature of these moves. One aspect of the findings shows the number of people who moved from one particular state to another using data from the American Community Survey. The most common such move between 2009 and 2010 was from California to Texas: about 70,000 people made such a relocation.

In fact, a move from California to another state comprised four of the 10 most common state-to-state moves (also known as “flows”). In addition to Texas, Arizona, Washington, Oregon and Nevada were the most common destinations of those leaving California. The second most common move overall was New York to Florida, and the third most was Florida to Georgia. It should be noted that flows in the top 10 may not be significantly different from flows outside the top 10.

The majority of Americans ─ 59 percent ─ live in the state in which they were born. There are large variations in this rate, however, between different parts of the country. For instance, the Midwest had the highest rate among regions: 70 percent. This indicates relatively lower lifetime mobility. The West, on the other hand, had the lowest such percentage: 50 percent. This means people there are more mobile over the course of their life.

For more information on Census Bureau migration products... 

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Access to Paid Leave Varies by Education for New Moms

Written By: Lynda Laughlin

Paid maternity allows new mothers time to care for their newborns and provides economic security while they are away from work. While the Family and Medical Leave Act, passed in 1993, entitles new parents to unpaid leave for up to 12 weeks, new mothers use a variety of options to meet the demands of their new role, including paid leave, unpaid leave, disability, even quitting or leaving their jobs. 

Instead, working mothers often rely on their employers for paid or unpaid leave benefits. More and more  employers are offering such benefits to retain employees and not train new ones.  Just over a third of first time mothers received paid leave in the early 1980s. By 2008, 51 percent of first time mothers received paid leave.

Access to paid leave can vary greatly by age, number of hours worked and education. Educational attainment serves as a useful proxy for the type of jobs one holds, the wages one earns, and in turn, the type of maternity leave benefits offered. Increasing levels of education go hand-in-hand with increases in the use of paid leave benefits. The relationship between educational attainment and use of paid leave began to appear in the early 1970s and pronounced by the early 1980s. The percentage of women with a bachelor’s degree or more who received paid leave increased from 27 percent in 1971-1975 to 59 percent for those with a first birth between 1981 and 1985, and grew to 66 percent of new mothers between 2006 and 2008. The use of paid leave by mothers with less than a high school degree was 18 percent in 2006-2008, about what it was for previous time periods.

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Older Women Less Likely to Live Alone Now Than A Generation Ago

Written By: Rose Kreider, U.S. Census Bureau

In general, the percent of all households that contain just one person has risen over the last half of the 20th century and into the 21st century. In 1960, 13 percent of all households contained one person, while in 2011, this had risen to 28 percent. While the percentage may not differ significantly from one year to the next, the overall trend has been an upward one. That’s why the decline in one-person households of 0.8 percentage points from 2008 to 2010 stands out.

Since this time period falls roughly during the recent recession, it is tempting to think the recession may have affected the likelihood of adults living alone. However, looking at the percentage of one-person households and years of recession, it doesn’t look like it is necessarily sensitive to recessions, since following each of the three recessions, the year prior did not differ statistically from the year after. (See Figure 1).

One reason we did not see a drop in one-person households following many recessions may be that a substantial proportion of such households contained someone who was 65 or older. People this age are more likely to be retired, and so would be less affected by recession-related job losses. However, the percentage of one-person households headed by someone 65 and older declined from 46 percent in 1971 to 35 percent in 2011.

Some interesting changes in the likelihood of living alone have happened over the last 40 years for men and women age 65 and older. In general, the percentage of men living alone increased, while the percentage of women living alone increased from 1971 to 1991, and then decreased.

The increase for older men was affected by at least two factors: rising life expectancy (from 67 years in 1971 to 75 years in 2007) and a higher percentage who are divorced. 

The increase in life expectancy for men is likely also connected to the decrease in living alone for older women.  Since these older women’s husbands were living longer, the proportion of the women who were widowed decreased, and the proportion married and living with their spouse increased from 1971 to 2011. 

These data come from The Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey, which was conducted in February, March and April of 2011 for a nationwide sample of about 100,000 addresses. Statistics from surveys are subject to sampling and nonsampling error. For more information on the source of the data and accuracy of the estimates, including standard errors and confidence intervals, see Appendix G at <http://www.census.gov/apsd/techdoc/cps/cpsmar11.pdf>.

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