Community Corner

Contra Costa County's Asian Population Sees Big Jump

Non-Hispanic whites make up less than half of Contra Costa County residents, according to new U.S. Census numbers.

Contra Costa County’s Asian population followed national trends and grew more than any other demographic between 2010 and 2012, according to numbers released Wednesday from the U.S. Census Bureau.

"Asians and Hispanics have long been among our nation's fastest-growing race or ethnic groups," noted Thomas Mesenbourg, the Census Bureau's acting director.

The trend holds true in Contra Costa County, where the Asian population jumped 7.4 percent to 162,490 last year, according to census numbers. The number of Hispanic residents grew 4.4 percent, to 267,419.

Find out what's happening in Pinole-Herculeswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Those declaring two races grew 6.7 percent to 40,052.

Nationally, more than 60 percent of the Asian population’s growth was a result of migration to the U.S. from other countries, census officials said. California has more Asian residents than any other state, with 6 million.

Find out what's happening in Pinole-Herculeswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

By comparison, much of the national Hispanic population’s growth was due to natural increase, or a greater number of births than deaths, according to census data.

The number of white, non-Hispanic residents grew 0.5 percent during the same time period, to 505,758, according to census figures. While still the largest ethnic group, whites make up only 47 percent of Contra Costa County’s nearly 1.1 million residents. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here