Newly-released Census data shows new details about the state’s Latino population.
The Census estimates there were more than 151,000 “people of Latino origin” living in Iowa in the spring of 2010, and the data shows the Latino population in Iowa grew dramatically over the past decade. According to the Census, Iowa’s Latino population grew nearly 84 percent from 2000 to 2010.
The report shows Latinos have a higher concentration of preschoolers in the Iowa population than any other ethic group or race, including Caucasians. Latinos are more likely to live in a family-setting with children in the household, too. Of the more than 28,000 Latino families the Census found living in Iowa, more than 71 percent of those families had children under the age of 18 living at home. By comparison, about 44 percent of white families have children living at home.
A county-by-county analysis shows 24 percent of the residents in Crawford County are Latino. Denison is the largest city in Crawford County and the Census shows 42 percent of the city’s residents are Latino.
There were other Iowa cities with a larger percentage of Latinos. Sixty-three percent of the people living in the small, southeast Iowa community Conesville are Latinos. More than 52 percent of the residents of West Liberty are Latino. About 42 percent of the population of Columbus Junction is Latino. In northwest Iowa’s Buena Vista County — the Storm Lake area — nearly 23 percent of that county’s population is Latino according to the 2010 Census survey.