York County has highest rate of Hispanic growth in state

Nebraska counties continue to diversify thanks largely to growing Hispanic populations and shrinking white populations, census estimates say.
The estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau and an accompanying analysis compiled by a university census expert show minority populations in all but one county had higher growth rates between 2000 and 2007 than white, non-Hispanic populations.
And of all the 93 counties in the state — York County had the highest rate of growth in both its minority and Hispanic populations. Between 2000 and 2007, its minority population grew by 97.6 percent, or 522 people. Its Hispanic population increased 152.2 percent, or a gain of 312 people.
The biggest decrease in the state occurred in Hooker County, which saw its minority population dip from 17 people in 2000 to 14 in 2007. Its white, non-Hispanic population dropped 5.7 percent.
The Census Bureau defines minority as people indicating their races as Hispanic or a race other than white alone.
The latest figures support a recent Nebraska trend of higher diversity and could indicate what the future holds, said David Drozd, a research associate with the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Center for Public Affairs Research.
Census estimates also show 78 of Nebraska’s 93 counties had an increase in Hispanic population and a decrease in white, non-Hispanic population over the seven-year span.
Hispanic growth statewide has slowed considerably in recent years, having peaked in the 1990s, but it is still driving the broader minority growth, Drozd said.
According to statewide population figures released in May, the state’s Hispanic population grew 6.4 percent annually between 2000 and 2003. Between 2003 and 2007, that annual rate dropped to 4.4 percent.
While minority populations may be showing growth, estimates show 73 of Nebraska’s counties lost population between 2000 and 2007.
Madison County is among them, having lost 1,089 people between 2006 and 2007 alone with the losses spread evenly across major racial groups.
Drozd ties the losses to the 2006 closure of a Tyson beef processing plant in Norfolk and a slaughterhouse in West Point. The closures affected 1,665 workers.
What’s harder to tie in is where they went, Drozd said.
Neighboring Platte County saw a gain of 441 people that year, primarily white non-Hispanic residents. It did not see a major increase in Hispanic residents.
Dakota County, however, saw its population increase by 156 people from 2006 to 2007, with 124 of those black non-Hispanic residents.
The area has seen a growing Somali population, including some who’ve started their own businesses and others drawn to the area by jobs at a Tyson plant in Dakota City, said South Sioux City Administrator Lance Hedquist.