Minorities The Majority In One In 10 U.S. Counties

According to the New York Times, minority groups made up the majority of the population in one in 10 counties in the United States in 2007. Among young people, the numbers are even higher, with minorities composing nearly 43 percent of the population under the age of 20. Minorities make up about one third of the United States population, and with such a large contingent of young people, are likely to break 50 percent of the population earlier than the original prediction of 2050.

The statistics, from data recently published by the U.S. census bureau, paint a complex picture of diversity in the United States; yet the data continues to follow historical geographic trends. Counties with African American majorities tended to be in Southern states, and counties with Hispanic majorities were predominantly along the Southern U.S. border in the South and West (for a more detailed look, check out the New York Times demographic map).