Racial, Ethnic Diversity Increasing in Rural America

According to numbers from the USDA, ethnic and racial diversity is increasing in rural parts of the nation.  Racial and ethnic minorities made up 21% of rural residents in 2014.

USDA said this week Hispanics, and Asians are the fastest growing minority groups in the United States as a whole and in rural areas.

Over 2010-2014, the rural Hispanic population increased 9.2%, and their share of the total rural population rose from 7.5% to 8.2%.  Asians and Pacific Islanders represent a small share of the rural population, about one percent, but their population grew by 18% between 2010 and 2014, while rural Native American and Black populations grew at more modest rates.

Meanwhile,  the rural non-Hispanic White population declined by 1.7% between 2010 and 2014. USDA says overall rural population loss, which was down 0.2 percent for the period, would have been much higher if not for the growth in the rural racial and ethnic minority groups.

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