The U.S. Census Bureau is releasing new numbers today that show nearly one in every 10 of the nation’s counties has a population that is more than 50 percent minority. Beth Henning, the coordinator of the State of Iowa’s data center, says Iowa’s 99 counties don’t mirror the national stats.
Henning says in Iowa the percentages are nowhere near the national level, but she says for the first time, one Iowa county has a minority population over 25-percent. Henning says Buena Vista County has a minority population of 25.1% of the county’s total population. Henning says Crawford County has the second highest minority population at 20.9%.
Henning says some of the larger counties, Polk has a minority population just over 15% and Scott county just under 15%. Henning says a total of 14 of Iowa counties with more than 10 percent of their population being minorities. Henning says from 200 to 2006 the minority population has led the growth in Iowa. She says the total population changed by just under two-percent but the Latino population increased by 39.1%, and the black population 18.2%. Henning says the white non-hispanic population grew by only zero-point-one percent.
That growth in minority population hasn’t done much to push Iowa’s overall ranking up. Henning says Iowa ranks in the bottom five states for minority population, with only nine percent. One Iowa county was even cited in the federal report as one having the fewest minorities in the county.
Henning says Mitchell County was 98-point-nine percent white, non-hispanic, and there are several others, mostly the smaller counties. Henning says a breakdown of the Iowa county numbers will be available on the State Library of Iowa’s website.