Focus Spring 2011

Recently released figures from U.S. Census Bureau make one point with stunning clarity: The face of America is changing. And rapidly. Consider the numbers: The U.S. population grew by about 9 percent between 2000 and 2010, rising from 281 million to nearly 309 million. During that decade, the number of Latino residents increased by 43 percent — nearly ten times the growth rate of the nation’s non-Latino population. Today, Latinos make up almost one-sixth of the U.S. population. By 2050, experts say, one in four Americans will be Latino.

This growing subpopulation is marked by its youth. According to the most recent figures, the median age of Latinos is 27; that’s 10 years younger than the median age for the population as a whole and 14 years younger than that of white Americans.