Yuma second in state in percentage of Hispanics

The growth in Yuma County's Hispanic population in six years far exceeds the population growth of non-Hispanics, according to new census figures.

In terms of overall growth, Yuma County shows the biggest disparity: Since 2000, the non-Hispanic population has grown just 4.3 percent, versus nearly 30 percent for Hispanics.

Yuma is has the second-biggest percentage of the 2006 population that is Hispanic, out of 15 counties in the state. According to new figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, almost 56 percent of the population - or 104,898 - are Hispanic.

Santa Cruz County had the highest percentage: 80.6 percent, and Apache had the lowest: 5.1 percent.

Yuma County comes in fifth statewide for the growth rate for the local Hispanic population. According to the figures, there has been an almost 30 percent increase between 2000 and 2006. The county's Hispanic population in 2000 was 80,772, according to the census.

Yuma had one of the lowest increases of non-Hispanic populations in the last six years - 4.3 percent, which placed the county in the bottom half of the rank.

Maricopa County added more Hispanics to its population in one year than any other county in the United States.

And the figures suggest that a large percentage of the new residents are migrants - legal or otherwise.

New figures today from the U.S. Census Bureau show more than 71,000 people who identify themselves as Hispanics were added to the county's population between July 1, 2005, and a year later.

And the county added more than 366,000 Hispanics since the beginning of the decade, bringing the county's total Hispanic population to close to 1.13 million.

The growth rate of the Hispanic community since 2000 is 48 percent, more than triple that of all other groups. And that now means that just under 30 percent of all Maricopa residents are Hispanic.

By contrast, the figure in 2000 was less than 25 percent.

While the sheer number of new Hispanics in Maricopa County is larger than anywhere else, the growth patterns are mirrored virtually everywhere else in the state: The Hispanic population is increasing twice as fast as the general population.

The Census Bureau doesn't break down the components of the change. But an analysis of statistics shows that only part of this can be explained simply by the number of new babies.

The state Health Department reports that the birth rate of Hispanics is more than double that of Anglo non-Hispanics. That is reflected in the new Census Bureau figures showing the number of Hispanics younger than 5 increased at a rate about three times that of all other groups.

Yet among those in prime working years - ages 30 to 40 - the number of Hispanics increased at a ratio of close to 40-to-1 over all other groups.

That pattern is mirrored elsewhere.

Only a few counties bucked the trend. One of those is Pinal County, which the Census Bureau lists as one of the fastest growing in the entire nation.

There, the number of Hispanics grew at a slightly slower rate than the 51.1 percent for other groups.

And Santa Cruz County, while posting a better than 13 percent increase in the number of Hispanics since 2000, showed an even more rapid growth from others.

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Sun Associate Editor-Assignments Jackie Leatherman contributed to this report. She can be reached at jleatherman@yumasun.com or 539-6849.