EMBARGOED UNTIL: 12:01 A.M. EDT, SEPTEMBER 4, 1998 (FRIDAY) Public Information Office CB98-160 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-4067 (TDD) e-mail: pio@census.gov Larry Sink/Amy Smith 301-457-2461 California Leads States and Los Angeles County, Calif., Tops Counties in Hispanic Population Increase, Census Bureau Reports California, the state with the largest number of Hispanics in 1990, also registered the biggest increase in Hispanics 2.2 million between 1990 and 1997 and Los Angeles County, Calif., led all counties, with an increase of 649,404 Hispanics over the same period, according to new rankings released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. The embargoed tabulations can be accessed on the Internet at http://www.census.gov/dcmd/www/embargo/embargo.html. Call the Public Information Office to obtain access information. After the release time, the state data can be accessed at http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/statepop.html and the county data, at http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/countypop.html.) The Census Bureau said other big gainers in Hispanic population for the first seven years of the 1990s were (in order): Texas (1.4 million); Florida (531,541); New York (356,439); and Arizona (310,270). Following California, which had an estimated Hispanic population of 9.9 million in 1997, the states with the largest Hispanic populations were: Texas (5.7 million); New York (2.6 million); Florida (2.1 million); and Illinois (1.2 million). These were the same states that led the nation in Hispanic population totals in 1990. The only change in the top 10 states in Hispanic population between 1990 and 1997 was Arizona, which moved into sixth place, with 998,623, replacing New Jersey, which dropped to seventh place, with 958,885. The rest of the top 10 consisted of New Mexico (692,570); Colorado (556,074); and Massachusetts (358,521). New Mexico led all states with the highest percentage (40.0 percent) of Hispanics in its overall 1997 population. Three Western states and one Southwestern state rounded out the top five in this category: California (31 percent); Texas (29 percent); Arizona (22 percent); and Nevada (15 percent). Among counties, Harris County (Houston), Texas, was No. 2 in Hispanic population increase for the seven-year period, with 207,261 new Hispanic residents. Other big gainers include: Orange County, Calif. (196,385); San Diego County, Calif. (185,933); and Dade County (Miami), Fla.. (185,582). Los Angeles County maintained its position in 1997 as the county in the United States with the highest number of Hispanics (4.0 million). Dade County (Miami), Fla., was second (1.1 million); followed by Cook County (Chicago), Ill. (867,520); and Harris County, Texas (852,177). The only newcomer in the top five was Orange County, Calif., which jumped into fifth place with 761,228. All the top 10 counties with the highest Hispanic concentration were located in Texas: Starr (98 percent); Webb (95 percent); Maverick (95 percent); Jim Hogg (93 percent); Zavala (92 percent); Brooks (91 percent); Hidalgo (88 percent); Willacy (87 percent); Duval (87 percent) and Dimmit (86 percent).-X-Editor's Note: The Public Information Office now has a media-access server for embargoed news releases and data sets. It is available to accredited media representatives only. To gain access, please contact us for a username and password. The media-access server's Internet address is http://www.census.gov/dcmd/www/embargo/embargo.html. We would appreciate any comments you may have about the site. The Census Bureau pre-eminent collector and provider of timely, relevant and quality data about the people and economy of the United States. In more than 100 surveys annually and 20 censuses a decade, evolving from the first census in 1790, the Census Bureau provides official information about America's people, businesses, industries and institutions.
