Non-Hispanic white Americans account for 60% of the U.S. population, but in a growing number of counties, a majority of residents are Hispanic or black, reflecting the nation’s changing demographics and shifting migration patterns.

In 2018, there were 151 U.S. counties where Hispanics, blacks or two much smaller racial and ethnic groups – American Indians and Alaska Natives – made up a majority of the population, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. That was an increase from 110 such counties in 2000. The 41 counties that joined the list between 2000 and 2018 are all majority Hispanic or majority black. (For a full list of these counties, see the sortable table at the end of the post.)

Overall, 69 counties were majority Hispanic in 2018, 72 were majority black and 10 were majority American Indian or Alaska Native. The majority American Indian or Alaska Native counties are unique in that most have experienced overall population declines since 2000, even as the share of American Indian or Alaska Native residents in these counties remained fairly flat.

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There were no U.S. counties where Asians accounted for more than half of the population, but in Honolulu County, Hawaii, the population was 42% Asian and 9% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.

The South and Southwest of the United States hold most of the counties where Hispanic, black or indigenous people make up a majority of residents. These counties represent just 5% of the 3,142 counties in the U.S. and about half of the country’s 293 majority nonwhite counties (a figure that includes counties where multiple racial and ethnic groups combine to account for a majority).

This analysis includes only counties with a minimum population of 10,000 in 2018. These counties represent 77% of the nation’s 3,142 counties and include 99% of the U.S. population. For this analysis, a majority is defined as more than 50% of the population.

Rapid growth in majority Hispanic counties

The number of majority Hispanic counties doubled between 2000 and 2018, from 34 to 69 – mostly in the South and West. In all but four of these 69 counties, the Hispanic share of the population grew during that period. The few counties that experienced declines saw only slight decreases, and no county that was majority Hispanic in 2000 fell below 50% Hispanic by 2018.

These trends are in line with the growth of the U.S. Hispanic population as a whole, which reached a new high in 2018 even as its rate of growth slowed. The Latino population grew at a faster rate than most other racial or ethnic groups during the 2000s, due to relatively high birth rates among Hispanic women and immigration from Latin America.

Related: See Pew Research Center’s U.S. population projections through 2065, which provide a look at immigration’s impact on population growth and on racial and ethnic change.

In 2018, Texas was home to the 10 counties in the U.S. with the largest shares of Hispanic residents. Starr County, home to about 65,000 people overall, had the largest concentration of Hispanic residents, at 96% of the population. Other counties where Hispanics accounted for an especially large share of residents included Webb (95%), Hidalgo (92%) and Cameron counties (90%) – all in Texas.

The Hispanic populations of some larger U.S. counties also grew between 2000 and 2018. San Bernardino County, California (population 2.2 million) was the most populous county to become majority Hispanic during this span. Osceola County, Florida (home to about 370,000) saw the largest percentage point increase in Hispanic residents during this time (26 points, rising from 29% to 55%).

The migrating U.S. black population

While the black share of the total U.S. population has not changed substantially over the last two decades, the number of majority black counties in the U.S. grew from 65 to 72 between 2000 and 2018. One contributing factor may be migration of black Americans from the North to the South and from cities into suburbs.

There are now 15 majority black counties that were not majority black in 2000. Among them, Rockdale County, Georgia, located about half an hour outside Atlanta, had the largest percentage point increase in the share of black residents (from 18% in 2000 to 55% in 2018). With about 930,000 residents, Shelby County, Tennessee, which contains Memphis, was the county with the largest population to become majority black.

The 10 counties with the highest shares of black residents in 2018 were in Mississippi (seven counties) Alabama (two) and Virginia (one). In these 10 counties, about 70% or more residents were black.

Meanwhile, eight counties that were majority black in 2000 are no longer. Three of these are large U.S. cities that the Census Bureau includes in its county estimates: Washington, D.C.; Richmond, Virginia; and St. Louis, Missouri. Washington (home to roughly 702,000 residents in 2018) saw a 19% increase in total population during that period, while its black population decreased by 9%. The city’s share of black residents declined by 15 percentage points, from 60% to 45%.

Majority American Indian or Alaska Native counties

In 2018, there were eight U.S. counties where more than half of the population was American Indian; two other counties were majority Alaska Native.

While majority Hispanic and black counties are growing in number, these predominantly American Indian or Alaska Native counties have experienced net population loss from 2000 to 2018. And one county that was majority American Indian or Alaska Native in 2000 is no longer: San Juan County, Utah, where the share of American Indian residents fell 8 percentage points, from 55% to 47%.

All 10 majority American Indian counties are located on or near reservation land in the Midwest and the West, and most have populations of fewer than 20,000 people. The exceptions are McKinley County, New Mexico, and Apache County, Arizona, both of which are home to about 72,000 people.

The two counties where the majority of residents were Alaska Native are both in rural Alaska: Bethel Census Area (population of roughly 18,000) and Nome Census Area (population of about 10,000).





Population in U.S. counties where Hispanic, black or indigenous people are a large share of residents

State County % of population that was one racial/ethnic group other than white in 2000 % of population that was one racial/ethnic group other than white in 2018 Largest racial/ethnic group, 2018 Alabama Bullock County 72.6% 69.5% Black Alabama Dallas County 63.0% 70.0% Black Alabama Hale County 59.2% 57.8% Black Alabama Macon County 84.3% 80.0% Black Alabama Marengo County 51.4% 51.1% Black Alabama Montgomery County 48.5% 58.5% Black Alabama Sumter County 72.4% 71.4% Black Alabama Wilcox County 71.4% 70.7% Black Alaska Bethel Census Area 81.7% 82.3% American Indian/Alaska Native Alaska Nome Census Area 75.0% 74.1% American Indian/Alaska Native Arizona Apache County 76.5% 73.2% American Indian/Alaska Native Arizona Santa Cruz County 80.8% 83.4% Hispanic Arizona Yuma County 50.5% 64.3% Hispanic Arkansas Chicot County 53.5% 53.4% Black Arkansas Crittenden County 46.9% 53.7% Black Arkansas Jefferson County 49.4% 56.8% Black Arkansas Phillips County 58.6% 61.4% Black Arkansas St. Francis County 48.7% 52.3% Black California Colusa County 46.5% 60.3% Hispanic California Fresno County 44.0% 53.5% Hispanic California Imperial County 72.2% 84.6% Hispanic California Kern County 38.4% 54.0% Hispanic California Kings County 43.6% 55.0% Hispanic California Madera County 44.3% 58.3% Hispanic California Merced County 45.3% 60.2% Hispanic California Monterey County 46.8% 59.1% Hispanic California San Benito County 47.9% 60.6% Hispanic California San Bernardino County 39.2% 54.0% Hispanic California Tulare County 50.8% 65.2% Hispanic District of Columbia District of Columbia 59.9% 44.9% Black Florida Gadsden County 57.0% 55.1% Black Florida Hendry County 39.6% 54.3% Hispanic Florida Miami-Dade County 57.3% 69.1% Hispanic Florida Osceola County 29.4% 55.3% Hispanic Georgia Bibb County 47.2% 55.0% Black Georgia Burke County 50.8% 46.9% Black Georgia Clayton County 51.4% 69.9% Black Georgia DeKalb County 54.3% 53.7% Black Georgia Dougherty County 60.0% 70.3% Black Georgia Early County 47.8% 51.0% Black Georgia Jefferson County 56.0% 52.4% Black Georgia Macon County 59.2% 59.8% Black Georgia Richmond County 49.5% 56.0% Black Georgia Rockdale County 18.1% 55.4% Black Georgia Sumter County 48.8% 52.4% Black Georgia Washington County 53.1% 53.3% Black Kansas Finney County 43.3% 50.5% Hispanic Kansas Ford County 37.7% 55.5% Hispanic Kansas Seward County 42.1% 62.0% Hispanic Louisiana Claiborne Parish 47.1% 51.6% Black Louisiana Madison Parish 60.2% 62.4% Black Louisiana Orleans Parish 66.9% 59.1% Black Louisiana St. Helena Parish 51.9% 51.9% Black Louisiana St. John the Baptist Parish 44.6% 57.0% Black Louisiana West Feliciana Parish 50.1% 44.3% Black Maryland Baltimore city 64.2% 61.9% Black Maryland Prince George’s County 62.6% 61.9% Black Mississippi Adams County 52.5% 52.4% Black Mississippi Bolivar County 64.8% 63.6% Black Mississippi Clay County 56.1% 58.5% Black Mississippi Coahoma County 68.9% 76.6% Black Mississippi Copiah County 50.7% 51.2% Black Mississippi Hinds County 60.9% 72.4% Black Mississippi Holmes County 78.0% 82.0% Black Mississippi Jasper County 52.7% 53.0% Black Mississippi Jefferson Davis County 57.1% 59.6% Black Mississippi Kemper County 57.7% 60.7% Black Mississippi Leflore County 67.3% 74.0% Black Mississippi Marshall County 50.1% 47.0% Black Mississippi Noxubee County 68.9% 71.8% Black Mississippi Pike County 47.3% 53.1% Black Mississippi Sunflower County 69.5% 73.2% Black Mississippi Tallahatchie County 59.0% 56.7% Black Mississippi Washington County 64.3% 71.9% Black Mississippi Yazoo County 53.6% 56.7% Black Missouri St. Louis city 51.1% 45.6% Black Montana Big Horn County 58.4% 62.6% American Indian/Alaska Native Montana Glacier County 61.0% 63.0% American Indian/Alaska Native Montana Roosevelt County 55.0% 58.0% American Indian/Alaska Native New Mexico Bernalillo County 42.0% 50.3% Hispanic New Mexico Chaves County 43.8% 57.2% Hispanic New Mexico Doña Ana County 63.4% 68.6% Hispanic New Mexico Grant County 48.8% 50.7% Hispanic New Mexico Lea County 39.7% 59.4% Hispanic New Mexico Luna County 57.8% 67.6% Hispanic New Mexico McKinley County 73.4% 73.9% American Indian/Alaska Native New Mexico Rio Arriba County 72.9% 71.2% Hispanic New Mexico San Miguel County 78.0% 77.5% Hispanic New Mexico Santa Fe County 49.0% 51.1% Hispanic New Mexico Taos County 58.0% 56.9% Hispanic New Mexico Valencia County 54.9% 61.0% Hispanic New York Bronx County 48.4% 56.4% Hispanic North Carolina Bertie County 62.1% 60.7% Black North Carolina Edgecombe County 57.2% 57.2% Black North Carolina Halifax County 52.3% 53.1% Black North Carolina Hertford County 59.3% 60.3% Black North Carolina Northampton County 59.4% 56.9% Black North Carolina Vance County 48.0% 50.5% Black North Carolina Warren County 54.4% 50.6% Black North Dakota Rolette County 72.5% 76.6% American Indian/Alaska Native South Carolina Bamberg County 62.2% 59.8% Black South Carolina Clarendon County 53.0% 46.9% Black South Carolina Fairfield County 58.9% 57.0% Black South Carolina Hampton County 55.4% 52.7% Black South Carolina Jasper County 52.5% 41.0% Black South Carolina Lee County 63.4% 63.6% Black South Carolina Marion County 56.1% 56.3% Black South Carolina Marlboro County 50.6% 50.6% Black South Carolina Orangeburg County 60.7% 61.6% Black South Carolina Williamsburg County 66.0% 64.4% Black South Dakota Oglala Lakota County 93.2% 89.5% American Indian/Alaska Native South Dakota Todd County 84.5% 82.6% American Indian/Alaska Native Tennessee Haywood County 50.9% 50.2% Black Tennessee Shelby County 48.5% 53.6% Black Texas Andrews County 40.0% 56.6% Hispanic Texas Atascosa County 58.6% 64.7% Hispanic Texas Bee County 53.9% 59.3% Hispanic Texas Bexar County 54.3% 60.5% Hispanic Texas Caldwell County 40.4% 53.0% Hispanic Texas Cameron County 84.4% 89.8% Hispanic Texas Dawson County 48.2% 58.1% Hispanic Texas Deaf Smith County 57.4% 73.5% Hispanic Texas Dimmit County 85.0% 87.4% Hispanic Texas Duval County 88.0% 89.1% Hispanic Texas Ector County 42.4% 61.3% Hispanic Texas El Paso County 78.2% 83.0% Hispanic Texas Frio County 73.8% 79.3% Hispanic Texas Gonzales County 39.6% 51.5% Hispanic Texas Hale County 47.9% 59.7% Hispanic Texas Hidalgo County 88.4% 92.4% Hispanic Texas Jim Wells County 75.7% 80.4% Hispanic Texas Karnes County 47.4% 55.3% Hispanic Texas Kleberg County 65.4% 73.4% Hispanic Texas Lamb County 43.5% 55.9% Hispanic Texas Maverick County 95.0% 95.2% Hispanic Texas Medina County 45.5% 52.4% Hispanic Texas Moore County 47.5% 56.3% Hispanic Texas Nueces County 55.8% 64.2% Hispanic Texas Pecos County 61.0% 68.8% Hispanic Texas Reeves County 73.4% 75.0% Hispanic Texas San Patricio County 49.4% 58.4% Hispanic Texas Starr County 97.5% 96.4% Hispanic Texas Terry County 44.1% 55.9% Hispanic Texas Uvalde County 65.9% 72.1% Hispanic Texas Val Verde County 75.5% 82.5% Hispanic Texas Ward County 42.0% 54.3% Hispanic Texas Webb County 94.3% 95.5% Hispanic Texas Willacy County 85.7% 88.4% Hispanic Texas Zapata County 85.4% 94.6% Hispanic Texas Zavala County 91.2% 93.9% Hispanic Utah San Juan County 55.2% 47.4% American Indian/Alaska Native Virginia Brunswick County 56.7% 54.6% Black Virginia Danville city 44.0% 50.5% Black Virginia Greensville County 59.7% 59.0% Black Virginia Petersburg city 78.7% 76.3% Black Virginia Portsmouth city 50.4% 53.3% Black Virginia Richmond city 57.2% 46.8% Black Virginia Sussex County 62.0% 56.1% Black Washington Adams County 47.1% 64.3% Hispanic Washington Franklin County 46.6% 53.5% Hispanic

Note: This analysis includes only counties with 10,000 or more residents in 2018. These counties account for 77% of the nation’s 3,142 counties and 99% of the U.S. population.

Source: Pew Research Center analysis of 2000 decennial census and 2018 Census Bureau population estimates.