Additional facts from the U.S. Census 2009 population estimates:
? Seven U.S. counties saw their former minority populations become the majority in 2009: Gwinnett in Georgia, Titus and Victoria in Texas, Finney in Kansas, Saguache in Colorado, Yakama in Washington and Contra Costa in California. Meanwhile, Panola County in Mississippi reverted back to white majority in 2009.
? There are 50 majority Hispanic counties nationally, with the top 10 in Texas. In Florida, Miami-Dade County is the only majority Hispanic county with 62.5 percent of its population being of Hispanic descent.
? Nationwide, 76 counties are a black majority; all were in the South. In Florida, Gadsen County’s population is more than 70 percent black.
? Honolulu County, Hawaii, remained the only majority Asian county in the nation.
? California, the nation’s most populous state, had the most whites.
NAPLES —
Southwest Florida is growing more diverse and younger.
According to estimates recently released by the U.S. Census, of the 318,537 people living in Collier County in 2009, 33.22 percent or 105,845 were minorities, an increase of 2,132.
Among Lee County’s 586,908 residents in 2009, Census estimates showed that 160,539 or 27.35 percent were minorities. That’s an increase of 557.
These projections for 2009 are the last ones based on the 2000 Census before the release of the official 2010 Census counts next year.
Estimates were created using administrative records to project the components of population change — births, deaths, and domestic and international migration.
In addition to the racial minority designation that includes Asian, black and Native American, the Census also counts Hispanics, which is an ethnicity and includes people of various racial backgrounds.
Within Collier’s total minority community, 83,391 residents, or 26.17 percent of the population, consider themselves Hispanic. That’s an increase of 2,260 from 2008.
In Lee County, 102,062 residents, or 17.38 percent of the county’s total population, consider themselves Hispanic. That’s a gain of 310 from the 2008 estimate.
Numbers released in April showed that Collier County gained 3,004 residents from 2008 to 2009, and showed that Lee County’s population dropped 1,801 _ the first time it has happened in a decade.
Among Florida’s 18.53 million residents in 2009, a total of 7.51 million are minorities and 3.99 million classify themselves as being of Hispanic descent.
The nation’s overall minority population continued to rise steadily, adding 2.3 million from 2008 to 2009, and bringing the total of minorities in the U.S. to 107,150,000 or 34.9 percent of the total population.
In 2008, the Census Bureau projected that non-Hispanic white children will become the minority in 2023 and the overall white population will follow in 2042.
As of now, U.S. Census spokesman Robert Bernstein said, those projections haven’t been updated, but are expected to change.
“We’ll do new projections based on the 2010 Census,” he said. “It will be really great when we have the fresh numbers from the 2010 Census. That’s just going to give us a tremendous snapshot of the population as it stands now. We are eagerly anticipating that.”
But a change in U.S. population when the current minority becomes the majority remains inevitable, Edison State College sociology professor Mike Andoscia said.
“It’s certain to happen within the next generation,” Andoscia said.
Meanwhile, the latest estimates showed Southwest Florida is getting just a bit younger.
Even so, in 2009, Collier County ranked 17th out of the country’s 2,432 counties with populations higher than 10,000 for the highest over-65 population — 26.8 percent or 85,470 residents.
Lee County came in 60th, with 22.7 percent of its population, 133,488 residents, over age 65.
Charlotte County took the No. 1 spot in 2009 for having the highest over-65 population percentage _ 34.3 percent, or 53,814 of the 156,952 residents.
In December, the Census Bureau is expected to release the official 2010 Census population counts for the nation and states, which will be used to apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
More than a dozen states also stand to gain or lose House seats after the 2010 census depending on last-minute shifts in population — including the Sunshine State.
“We’ll see how many Congressional seats, if any, Florida is gaining,” Bernstein said.
The population breakdown by race and ethnic background for county and metropolitan areas using 2010 Census numbers is slated for release around March 2011, he said.
Those numbers will be used to redraw legislative boundaries for U.S. House seats and state legislative districts.
__ Connect with Elysa Batista at www.naplesnews.com/staff/elysa_batista
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