The results of the most recent United States census are in—and the data show that Americans are more diverse in terms of ethnicity and race than ever before.
The census, an official count of all the people living in the U.S., is performed every 10 years. Its results are used for multiple purposes, including to help officials decide how much money the federal government should give to states and local communities for education and other expenses. The results also determine how many seats each state gets in the U.S. House of Representatives. House seats are based on a state’s share of the nation’s population.
The 2020 results show that the number of people who identify as Hispanic rose by 23 percent, to 62.1 million residents. The increase in the Hispanic population is responsible for more than half of U.S. population growth overall since 2010.
Meanwhile, the number of individuals nationwide who identify as multiracial grew significantly as well. People of more than one race now number 33.8 million in the U.S., up from 9 million in 2010, the data show. Census officials suspect that increase is partly due to changes in the census form that let people provide more specific information about how they identify themselves.
Yet despite increases in certain groups, the census data show that the nation’s overall population growth is hitting the brakes. Over the past decade, the U.S. population increased at its slowest rate in nearly 100 years. Experts say that sluggish growth is largely due to declining birthrates and a decrease in immigration. Since 2010, the nation added 23 million residents, for a total of more than 331 million people.