Tulare County’s Hispanic population increased 15% since 2010: What to know about Census results

James Ward
Visalia Times-Delta

The results from the 2020 United States Census are in, and Tulare County's population has increased, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Key data from the U.S. Census, released every 10 years, shows changing community demographics and helps to determine legislative and congressional district maps and federal funding allocation.

The pandemic delayed the collection and processing of the 2020 Census data, and Thursday's results are the first of two releases: a more user-friendly release is scheduled for September.

In 2010, the county’s population was 442,178. This year's Census shows Tulare County's population has jumped to 473,117, an increase of 7%.

The voting age population also increased by approximately 11%, from 298,055 to 331,093. Around 70% of Tulare County's population is over 18.

Population diversifies

The Hispanic population in Tulare County increased since 2010 at a rate of around 24%. In 2010, Hispanic and Latino people accounted for around 60% of the population and now account for around 65%.

The white population increased to 265,618 people from 186,255 people, a drop of nearly 30% as a proportion to the entire population of the county. 

More:Explore 2020 Tulare County census numbers

The largest racial demographic increase was among people who identified as multiracial, though the initial data did not break down the specific races. Residents identifying with two or more races have risen by 369% over 2010's number, from 18,424 in 2010 to 86,402 in 2020. 

Black residents decreased by about 7% and Asian residents increased by about 13%.

Hispanic residents of voting age increased by almost 24%, while people who identified as multiracial went up 483%. White voters decreased by 26%. 

The 2020 population breaks down by race as follows 

  • White: 265,618  (-29.9%)
  • Hispanic: 268,065 (15.6%)
  • Other: 128,261 (28.8%)
  • Two or more races: 18,424 (369.0%)
  • Asian: 15,176 (13.3%)
  • Black: 7,196 (-7.3%)
  • American Indian/Alaskan Native: 6,993 (52.2%)
  • Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 509 (42.0%)


The Golden State's population has expanded by more than two million people over the past decade, with Los Angeles County holding onto its title as the nation's most populous.  

And as the state has grown, so has its diversity. New 2020 data released by the US Census Bureau Thursday shows that although California's white population dropped by 24% between 2010 and 2020, its American Indian population rose by nearly 74% to more than 630,000 people.

The Latino or Hispanic population grew by around 11% to about 15.6 million people, or 39.4% percent of the state's total residents.

The Asian population also rose by 25.2% to more than 6 million people, while the black population decreased slightly by 2.7% to about 2.2. million. Residents who reported being two or more races grew by a whopping 217.3% to about 5.8 million. White residents still narrowly make up the majority of the California population at 41.2%, with about 16.3 million people. 

On a diversity index, which measures the probability that two random individuals will be from different race and ethnicity groups, California ranked second, behind Hawaii but ahead of Nevada. 

National picture 

The United States experienced unprecedented multiracial population growth and a decline in the white population for the first time in the nation’s history, according to U.S. Census. 

“These changes reveal that the US population is much more multiracial, and more racially and ethnically diverse than what we measured in the past,” said Nicholas Jones, the director of race, ethnicity, research, and outreach for the Census Bureau's Population Division.

The white, non-Hispanic population, without another race, decreased by 8.6% since 2010, Jones said during the Census bureau press briefing. He cautioned that some of the changes can be attributed to improvements to the survey. The white, non-Hispanic population is still the largest racial group in the U.S.

The release bolstered expert predictions and estimates in past years that showed continued expansion of the Hispanic, Black, and Asian American populations and growing numbers of multiracial residents — only a fraction in past surveys.

“​​The diversity that we're seeing in this country is going to be much more pronounced,” said William Frey, senior fellow at the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program. 

Race and ethnicity in America

In 2020, 33.8 million people reported being more than one race. A small fraction of residents reported being multiracial in 2000 (6.8 million, 2.4%), the first year respondents had the option. That share grew slightly in 2010 to 2.9% or 9 million people, according to the Census Bureau.

At the national level, there was a 61.1 % chance that two people chosen at random would be of different racial or ethnic groups. That same probability – called a diversity index by census officials — was 54.9 % in 2010.

The states with the highest diversity index scores in 2020 were in the west. with Hawaii at 76%, California with 69.7% and Nevada at 68.8%.

The 2020 Census used two separate questions to calculate race and ethnicity. One question focused on Hispanic or Latino origin. The other question focused specifically on race. 

“The improvements and changes enable a more thorough and accurate depiction of how people self-identify, yielding a more accurate portrait of how people report their Hispanic origin and race within the context of a two-question format,” said Jones. 

While the white population remained the most prevalent race or ethnic group in most counties, the most prevalent groups in certain areas were non-white, continuing growth trends of past years. 

Black or African American populations were dominant in parts of the South, while Hispanic or Latino residents were most prevalent in the Southwest and West. Native Americans were predominant in places where there are tribal lands in parts of Alaska, the Southwest, and Midwest.

“The presence of the Hispanic or Latino population as the second-most prevalent group spanned the entire continental United States, with large numbers of counties in every region,” census officials said in a release.

Yvette Roubideaux, vice president for research at the National Congress of American Indians, welcomed the results.  

“Today's news is great news,” she said. “America is more diverse than ever, and that diversity is a strength, not a weakness. We are excited to see that the data confirms that what we already see in our communities or schools, workplaces and with friends and families.”

She and other advocates said they are now turning their focus to ensuring political representation fairly reflect the population shifts in the data.

USA TODAY Network contributed to this report. 
