Ethnic and racial minorities are now the majority in three more Texas counties.
According to recently released U.S. Census data, black and Hispanic Americans now make up the majority of the population in Bell, Hockley and Terrell counties. The Census Bureau has not determined whether this change is due to an increase in births among minorities or whether other populations are leaving the counties.
Texas’s demographer, Lloyd Potter, said the new data also reflect the state’s economic success.
“Without question, if Texas had not been becoming more diverse, our labor force would not be as strong as it currently is,” Potter said. “By and large I think that the trends we have seen in terms of diversification in Texas have been both a social and economic benefit to the state.”
Minorities make up the majority of 55 other Texas counties. Starr County, on the Mexican border, has the highest share of Hispanics at 96 percent. Houston’s black population increased by 20,000, the largest increase in the country.
