Census shows more diverse U.S.

U.S. census data released on Thursday show an increasingly diverse country, with significant increases among people who identify as multi-racial, Hispanic and Asian driving much of the population growth between 2010 and 2020.

Gavino Garay reports.

New census data released on Thursday show the white population in the United States declined for the first time in history last decade... While people who identify as multi-racial, Hispanic and Asian drove much of the population growth between 2010 and 2020.

The data offered a portrait of an increasingly diverse nation.

The non-Hispanic white population, which remains the largest race or ethnic group, shrank by 8.6% over the decade and now accounts for 57.8% of the U.S. population - the lowest share on record.

People who identify as multi-racial increased by 276%, from 9 million to 33.8 million.

But overall – population growth slowed, says Senior Demographer Marc Perry.

MARC PERRY, SENIOR DEMOGRAPHER, POPULATION DIVISION – 2020 CENSUS: “U.S. population growth slowed this decade.

Only the 1930s had slower growth.

Fewer states, metro areas, and counties, had rapid population growth this decade.

Population decline was widespread this decade.

Most counties lost population between 2010 and 2020.” Thursday's Census data release also marks the start of what will be a fierce partisan battle over redistricting, as states use the local data to begin drawing congressional and state legislative districts for the next decade.

More than half of all U.S. counties lost population from 2010 to 2020, census officials said, and almost all growth occurred in metropolitan areas.

As in recent decades, the South and West saw more growth than the Midwest and Northeast.

Electoral analysts have said Republicans, who control more statehouses than Democrats, could potentially erase the Democrats' thin advantage in the House through redistricting alone.