Bexar County’s population grew 15.8 percent from 2010 to 2018, according to new U.S. Census bureau data released Thursday, with trend lines showing increasing ethnic and racial diversity.
While the rest of the nation is comprised of 18.3 percent Hispanics, they make up the majority of the population in Bexar County at 60.3 percent.
In 2018, the Hispanic population was greater than or equal to 50,000 in 5.6 percent (177) of counties and less than 100 people in 5.5 percent (173) of counties, according to the census data. In Bexar County, the number of Hispanic residents has grown from 1,006,958 in 2010 to 1,201,366 residents in 2018, an increase of 19.3 percent, the census data showed. Other counties, like Dallas and Harris counties, saw an increase in Hispanic populations by a similar margin, around 20 percent.
“If you break that growth down by ethnicity you see that less than one percent of that growth is from the non-Hispanic white population,” said Lloyd Potter, the interim dean at the University of Texas at San Antonio’s College of Public Policy. “Almost 83 percent of that growth is from the Latino population growing. We also have a pretty significant contribution from the African American population contributing 11 percent of the growth. Interestingly, the Asian population also contributed almost 9 percent of the growth between 2017 and 2018.”
The census estimates come amid concerns about the Trump administration’s plans to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census and how that could affect participation in the census as well as its accuracy. The fight over including the question is making its way through the courts, and three federal judges have issued rulings that block the question from being included. The Supreme Court is likely to issue a ruling soon on the case.
The Asian American population comprised the most significant rise in numbers across Bexar, Dallas, Travis, and Harris counties. Bexar County saw a 44.8 percent increase in Asian American residents since 2010, from 103,222 to 149,453 in 2018. Other populous counties experienced similar growth, such as Dallas (43.8 percent increase), Harris (24.1 percent) and Travis (48.6 percent).
While Bexar County is becoming more diverse, it’s also getting older. Residents over the age of 65 comprise 11.8 percent of Bexar County’s population, compared to 10.2 percent in 2010, according to the data. However, this percentage is lower than the national average of 15.6 percent.
The trends across the nation show a rise in the aging population as the baby-boomer generation gets older.
Asian growth but still no HMart.