NOTAS DE NEWSDAY- Census releases data on Hispanics in U.S.

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/census-releases-data-on-hispanics-in-u-s-1.2905253

Census releases data on Hispanics in U.S.

May 26, 2011 by OLIVIA WINSLOW / olivia.winslow@newsday.com

Those of Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban origin make up the largest share of Hispanics in the United States -- three-quarters -- according to national 2010 census data released Thursday.

Data released earlier this year showed the Hispanic population constitutes 16.3 percent of the nation's 308.7 million people -- 50.5 million -- growing 43 percent since 2000. Merarys Rios-Vargas, a Census Bureau statistician, said Hispanics include people born in other countries and in the United States.

Locally, Hispanics constitute 15.6 percent of Long Island's 2.83 million people, at more than 441,500 people.

"The overwhelming majority of Hispanics, whether Puerto Rican, Dominican, Mexican, Central American and others, are seeking good schools for their children, safe streets for their families and good jobs for economic prosperity," said Mel Guadalupe, Suffolk County's director of Minority Affairs.

Census Bureau officials yesterday detailed various Hispanic groups, and where they are found across the country.

Residents of Mexican origin were, by far, the largest Hispanic group -- 63 percent of the U.S. Hispanic population, up from 58 percent in 2000: growing from 20.6 million in 2000 to 31.8 million in 2010. They were most numerous in California, Texas, Arizona, Illinois and Colorado.

Locally, residents of Mexican origin are still a small segment of Long Island's Hispanic population. However, their numbers nearly doubled to 26,198 in 2010, up from 13,528 in 2000 -- a 94 percent increase.

Data from the 2010 Census for other Hispanic groups, such as Dominicans and Salvadorans, will be released in the summer.

Isabel Sepulveda-de Scanlon, publisher of Voz Latina, a bilingual newspaper in the Hamptons, as well as founder and president of a cultural group, Ola of Eastern Long Island, said she expected to see "big numbers" for Colombians, Salvadorans and Guatemalans.

In the East End, where several communities have large Hispanic populations, Sepulveda-de Scanlon said she had seen an explosion of Hispanic businesses, including delis, restaurants, and construction, masonry and painting firms.

Nationally, Puerto Ricans are the second-largest Hispanic group, at 4.6 million, making up 9 percent of the Hispanic population in 2010. They were concentrated in New York, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

On Long Island, where Puerto Ricans have traditionally been the largest Hispanic group -- though 2009 Census estimates suggest Salvadorans may exceed them -- there were 88,514 in 2010, up from 74,796 in 2000, an 18.3 percent increase.

Other highlights of the 2010 Census on the nation's age and gender composition:

The median age of Americans was 37.2 years, up from 35.3 years in 2000. (The median age on Long Island was 40.5; for New York State, 38.)

There were 96.7 males for every 100 females in the United States, up from 96.3 males in 2000.

Males between the ages of 60 and 75 increased more than females of that age group, 35.2 percent and 29.2 percent, respectively, potentially because of a narrowing in mortality gap between males and females.