Hispanics' growth rate soars above all others'

But new figures Thursday from the Census Bureau show the annual growth among Hispanics in 14 of Arizona's 15 counties is faster than all other groups'.

A lot faster.

Growth in the year ending last July 1 has pushed the Hispanic population in Pima County above the one-third mark, up from less than 30 percent in 2000.

That's based on a 39 percent increase in Hispanic population since the 2000 Census. By comparison, the number of people in Pima County who do not list themselves as Hispanic grew by just 13.4 percent since the beginning of the decade.

Maricopa County also is moving toward having a third of its residents being Hispanics, with 31.8 percent now classifying themselves that way.

That's up nearly 3.3 percent in just one year - and a 68 percent jump since the 2000 census. The non-Hispanic population grew by less than a percentage point in the last year for which figures are available, and less than 19 percent since 2000.

The fastest-growing locale for Hispanics, at least by percentage, over the decade has been Pinal County, where the number of Hispanics has increased close to 90 percent.

Pinal County is an anomaly, however, in that it has seen spectacular growth across-the-board. It is the one county where the non-Hispanic growth rate is actually slightly higher than Hispanic rate, albeit by a fraction of a percentage point, leaving Pinal with slightly less than 30 percent of its residents as Hispanic.

Santa Cruz County remains the place with the highest percentage of Hispanics, where they make up eight out of every 10 residents. Yuma County is a distant second with almost 57 percent of its residents listing themselves as Hispanic.

The changing demographics are likely to influence commerce, as businesses do more to try to reach what is becoming a much larger percentage of their potential customer base. It also could have political impact, especially with anecdotal evidence that many Hispanics, unhappy with the Republican Party and the support by GOP legislators for the state's tough new immigration law, choose to support others.

The Census Bureau report does not break out how much of each county's growth is due to new residents and how much is natural. But figures from the Arizona Department of Health Services show the birth rate of Hispanic women is twice that of those who do not identify themselves as Hispanic.

Arizona's changing face

County A B C D E

Apache 5.1% 1.3% 42.6% (0.2%) 6.3%

Cochise 2.2% 0.2% 15.1% 7.7% 32.1%

Coconino 2.6% 0.9% 31.3% 9.2% 12.9%

Gila 1.5% (0.5%) 5.2% 1.0% 12.9%

Graham 2.6% 2.2% 15.2% 8.9% 28.2%

Greenlee 0.4% (0.8%) 0.8% (11.0%) 46.2%

La Paz 1.7% (0.5%) 10.4% (1.1%) 24.4%

Maricopa 3.3% 0.9% 67.8% 18.8% 31.8%

Mohave 0.2% (0.5%) 60.1% 21.4% 14.1%

Navajo 1.7% 0.4% 40.6% 13.7% 10.0%

Pima 2.4% 0.3% 38.9% 13.4% 33.7%

Pinal 3.1% 3.8% 89.6% 89.7% 29.9%

Santa Cruz 1.7% 0.8% 13.0% 18.6% 80.0%

Yavapai 1.7% 0.2% 74.3% 23.8% 13.2%

Yuma 3.2% 0.2% 38.9% 7.0% 57.0%

SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau

Code:

A - Annual % Hispanic gain

B - Annual % non-Hispanic gain

C - % Hispanic gain since 2000

D - % non-Hispanic gain since 2000

E - Hispanic as % of county population

Negative numbers in parentheses