By Conor Dougherty
The U.S. has hit a racial tipping point where less than half of newborns are whites of European descent. But since the older population still has a strong majority of non-Hispanic whites, these racial changes have big generational divides.
Below is a chart of counties where the overall majority is non-Hispanic white, but where whites are a minority among the population under 5.
The biggest divides are in rural counties, many of which have seen out-and-out declines in their white population, leading to big percentage gains. Still, many larger counties have huge white/minority divides that are a great illustration of how different generations view issues of race and immigration.
Take, for instance, Maricopa County, Ariz., which surrounds Phoenix and is a hotbed for the nation’s continuing debate over illegal immigration. Maricopa had an 18.4 percentage point gap between the share of the overall population that is non-Hispanic white and the share of kids under 5. In other words, while non-Hispanic whites are still a strong majority of Maricopa’s overall population, white children are a clear minority.
Some other big counties with a big race/generation gap are King County, Washington, which includes Seattle, Tarrant County, Texas (Fort Worth), Palm Beach County, Florida and Cuyahoga County, Ohio (Cleveland).
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