The 2010 Census is expected to show an explosive growth in America’s Hispanic population over the last decade. When the Census Bureau compared the Hispanic population in 2000 and 2006, it found the population’s growth rate was nearly quadruple the rate of the overall U.S. population. Hispanics were responsible for half of all population growth in the country during that period.
The Census Bureau then projected that at that rate they would count approximately 47 million Hispanics living in the U.S. in the 2010 Census. Two years later, they increased their projection to over 49 million, or just over 16 percent of the American population. At their current rates of growth, Hispanics are likely to cause non-Hispanic whites to be the minority of the population before 2050.
Along with the anticipation of the next census’ findings, though, is the fear that Hispanics may be undercounted. The Census Bureau estimates that it missed close to a quarter of a million Hispanics in the 2000 Census. Other groups like NALEO, the National Association of Latino Elected Officials, have estimated that number at closer to a million.