Idaho’s 2006 Population Growth Led by Hispanics

The influx of Hispanics into Idaho intensified from mid-2005 and mid-2006. The Census Bureau estimated that the population of Idaho ’s largest minority jumped nearly 6.4 percent, more than twice the state’s overall population growth rate.

The new population estimates also found the segment of working-age Idahoans continuing to increase, a key factor in maintaining the labor pool required to support the state’s economic expansion.

Idaho ’s Hispanic population reached 138,870 on July 1, 2006, up 8,300 from a year earlier. Nearly one in every four new residents was Hispanic. It was the ninth fastest growth rate in the nation, maintaining Idaho ’s Hispanic population at 15^th largest in the country. Hispanics make up 9.5 percent of the state’s total population, which was the sixth fastest growing in 2006 at 2.6 percent. The statewide population was 1,466,465.

 “Hispanics are an important segment of Idaho ’s economy, supplying critical manpower to keep the state’s expansion going and providing businesses with a significant market for goods and services,” Idaho Commerce & Labor Director Roger B. Madsen said.

American Indians were the second largest minority at less than 21,000, or 1.4 percent.

The growth rate for Idaho Hispanics was the strongest since the 2000 census. But the Hispanic community, while markedly younger than the state’s population overall, appeared to be maturing just as the state as a whole seems to be.

The new estimates reflected the continued decline in the percentage of Idaho ’s overall population of people under age 18, evidence of the aging grandchildren of the baby-boom generation as it moves steadily toward retirement. The under-18 age group accounted for 27 percent of the entire population in 2006 compared to 28.5 percent in 2000.

The decline was muted to some extent by the continued strong growth of Hispanics under age 18. They increased by nearly 2,900 in 2006 to over 54,000 and make up 40 percent of the Hispanic population.

But like the state overall, that was down from the 2000 census, when Hispanics under age 18 accounted for over 42 percent of the Hispanic population.

The total number of people age 65 and over has remained relatively stable as a percentage of the total population. Hispanics over 65 accounted for 3 percent of the Hispanic population while Idahoans over 65 accounted for 11.5 percent.

Most of the population growth has been among 18 to 65 year-olds, which grew almost 3 percent from mid-2005 and made up 61.5 percent of the 2006 population compared to 60 percent in 2000. The situation was similar for Hispanics, whose 18 to 65 age group increased 6.7 percent from 2005 to account for nearly 58 percent of the Hispanic population. That age group made up just 55.5 percent of the Hispanic population in 2000.

2006 Idaho , Hispanic Population By Age     Total   % Change from 2005   % of Total   Hispanic   % Change from 2005   % of Hispanic Total   Under 18   394,280   1.97%   26.89%   54,435   5.54%   39.20%   18 to 64   903,012   2.79%   61.58%   80,247   6.68%   57.79%   Over 64   169,173   3.02%   11.54%   4,188   11.38%   3.02%   All Ages   1,466,465   2.60%   100.00%   138,870   6.36%   100.00%   Source: Census Bureau

2006 Total, Hispanic Population By State   States   Total   Hispanic   % Increase from 2005   % of Total Population            299,398,484          44,321,038   3.38%   14.80%   .Alabama               4,599,030                113,890   7.57%   2.48%   .Alaska                  670,053                  37,548   4.00%   5.60%   .Arizona               6,166,318             1,803,378   5.97%   29.25%   .Arkansas               2,810,872                141,053   8.00%   5.02%   .California             36,457,549          13,074,156   2.21%   35.86%   .Colorado               4,753,377                934,413   3.60%   19.66%   .Connecticut               3,504,809                391,935   2.69%   11.18%   .Delaware                  853,476                  53,835   5.55%   6.31%   .District of Columbia                  581,530                  47,774   -1.17%   8.22%   .Florida             18,089,888             3,646,499   4.61%   20.16%   .Georgia               9,363,941                703,246   7.65%   7.51%   .Hawaii               1,285,498                  99,663   1.83%   7.75%   .Idaho               1,466,465                138,870   6.36%   9.47%   .Illinois             12,831,970             1,886,933   2.81%   14.70%   .Indiana               6,313,520                300,857   5.55%   4.77%   .Iowa               2,982,085                114,700   4.68%   3.85%   .Kansas               2,764,075                237,426   3.54%   8.59%   .Kentucky               4,206,074                  85,938   5.25%   2.04%   .Louisiana               4,287,768                124,481   -3.57%   2.90%   .Maine               1,321,574                  13,529   4.37%   1.02%   .Maryland               5,615,727                337,341   5.97%   6.01%   .Massachusetts               6,437,193                511,014   2.32%   7.94%   .Michigan             10,095,643                393,281   2.08%   3.90%   .Minnesota               5,167,101                196,135   4.12%   3.80%   .Mississippi               2,910,540                  53,381   3.73%   1.83%   .Missouri               5,842,713                164,194   5.29%   2.81%   .Montana                  944,632                  23,818   3.71%   2.52%   .Nebraska               1,768,331                130,304   4.15%   7.37%   .Nevada               2,495,529                610,052   7.25%   24.45%   .New Hampshire               1,314,895                  29,872   3.95%   2.27%   .New Jersey               8,724,560             1,364,696   2.49%   15.64%   .New               1,954,599                860,688   2.07%   44.03%   .New York             19,306,183             3,139,456   0.76%   16.26%   .North Carolina               8,856,505                593,896   7.53%   6.71%   .North Dakota                  635,867                  10,637   3.34%   1.67%   .Ohio             11,478,006                267,750   2.76%   2.33%   .Oklahoma               3,579,212                247,450   5.21%   6.91%   .Oregon               3,700,758                379,038   5.43%   10.24%   .Pennsylvania             12,440,621                526,976   5.08%   4.24%   .Rhode Island               1,067,610                117,701   2.37%   11.02%   .South Carolina               4,321,249                151,289   7.89%   3.50%   .South Dakota                  781,919                  16,773   5.52%   2.15%   .Tennessee               6,038,803                194,706   7.40%   3.22%   .Texas             23,507,783             8,385,139   3.77%   35.67%   .Utah               2,550,063                286,113   5.98%   11.22%   .Vermont                  623,908                     7,135   3.30%   1.14%   .Virginia               7,642,884                479,530   5.28%   6.27%   .Washington               6,395,798                581,357   4.70%   9.09%   .West Virginia               1,818,470                  16,767   7.45%   0.92%   .Wisconsin               5,556,506                258,696   4.30%   4.66%   .Wyoming                  515,004                  35,729   2.33%   6.94%   Source: Census Bureau