The iconic image of Texas is fading further into history, as new data from the 2010 Census shows that the state is increasingly urban and Latino.
Latino’s accounted for two-thirds of the state’s growth over the last decade.
Latinos now make up 38 percent of the Texas population, up from 32 percent in 2000.
The Anglo population has now dropped to 45.3 percent, down from 52.4 percent in 2000. About 11.5 percent of the population is black, unchanged from 10 years ago.
Almost all of the state’s population growth is expected to have occurred in just four areas: Houston-Galveston, Dallas-Fort Worth, the Austin-San Antonio corridor and the lower Rio Grande Valley.
Houston remains the state’s largest city, with 2.1 million residents, up by 7.5 percent since 2000. And Harris County remains the largest county, with a population of 4.1 million, up by 20.3 percent since 2000.
The state’s other large cities grew, too, sometimes by huge margins: San Antonio, 1.3 million people, up by 16 percent; Dallas, 1.2 million, up by 0.8 percent; Austin, 790,390, up by 20.4 percent, and Fort Worth, 741,206, up by 38.6 percent.
The data also offers vivid evidence that West Texas, with the exception of a few cities, has continued to lose population, a shift expected to translate to less political clout for that part of the state.
Loving County was down to just 82 residents, but seven others reported fewer than 1,000 people. Only two — McMullen and Kenedy — are east of Interstate 35.
Most of the suburban counties surrounding Houston, in contrast, grew exponentially.
* Montgomery County was the region’s fastest-growing, up 55.5 percent, to 455,746 people.
* Fort Bend County grew by 65 percent, to 585,375.
* Galveston County’s population grew just 16.5 percent, to 291,309, up slightly from 250,158 in 2000.
Texas’ growth twice that of nation’s
The first results of the 2010 Census, released in December, showed that Texas’ population grew more than twice as fast as that of the nation as a whole, to 25.1 million. As a result, the state will gain four additional Congressional seats, more than any other state.
New York and Ohio both lost two seats; an additional eight states each lost one seat.
The Census Bureau began releasing state-by-state data earlier this month, in the order in which state legislatures need the information to complete redistricting for Congressional and legislative seats. All states will receive the information before April 1.
This is the most complete information released so far, revealing population totals, along with racial and ethnic breakdowns, down to geographic areas as small as a block. It also includes some information on housing, including how many housing units were vacant on April 1, the day of the official Census count.
Effect on the voting booth
Political leaders and others will begin loading today’s data release onto their computers as soon as possible, hoping to kick-start a redistricting process that promises to be contentious.
Republicans control the Legislature, which oversees redistricting of Congressional and legislative seats, but most of the population growth is Latino, and the Voting Rights Act requires that the additional seats reflect their growing numbers.
Still, because some Latinos are either too young to vote or are not eligible to vote, the numbers won’t automatically translate to the voting booth.
At least one lawsuit already has been filed, in East Texas, contending that using 2010 Census data to draw new political boundaries is unfair because the count includes illegal immigrants, who are not allowed to vote.
Other lawsuits are almost assured.
Texas’ current congressional delegation includes 23 Republicans and nine Democrats, six of whom are Latino.
Early predictions on where the new Congressional seats will be include talk of a new Latino seat in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and another stretching from the valley to San Antonio, with Republican-leaning seats in west Harris County and north of Corpus Christi.