Florida counties’ multi-ethnic populations detailed in new census report

Florida now has three counties with majority Hispanic populations and six in which White people are not majorities of the populations, according to 2020 census data.

The U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday released a variety of new returns from the 2020 census to guide states in their efforts to redraw congressional and legislative districts in advance of the 2022 elections.

The new reports include more detailed information on a variety of population breakdowns by state and by county, including ethnicity.

The new data includes the Census Bureau’s “diversity index,” measuring the chances that any two randomly-selected people would be of different ethnicities. Florida is tied with Georgia as having the nation’s ninth-most diverse population, with a diversity index of 64.1%. Hawaii’s diversity index was highest, at 76%. Maine’s was lowest, at 18.5%.

Florida also has the sixth-highest Hispanic population among states, accounting for 26.5% of the Sunshine State’s residents. New Mexico is the most Hispanic state, at 47.7%, followed by California, Texas, Arizona, and Nevada. West Virginia has the nation’s smallest Hispanic population, accounting for just 1.9% of the residents.

Within Florida:

— Broward County has Florida’s most diverse population, with a diversity index rating of 71.8%, followed by Orange County, 71.3%; Hillsborough County, 67.8%; Duval County, 65.6%; and Palm Beach County, 64.1%.

Florida’s least diverse population is found in Franklin County, with a diversity index of 36.4%, followed by Santa Rosa, St. Johns, Washington, and Wakulla counties.

 — Miami-Dade County is Florida’s most Hispanic county, with 68.7% of all residents identifying as Hispanic or Latino. Hendry County (55.8%) and Osceola County (54.3%) also came in with majority-Hispanic populations in the 2020 census. They were followed by Orange, 33.1%; Broward, 31.3%; Hillsborough, 29.3%; Collier County, 27.2%; and Palm Beach, 23.5%.

— Miami-Dade also has Florida’s smallest percentage of population who identified their race as “White alone,” at 29.5%. In four other counties, fewer than half of the residents identified themselves as “White alone:” Gadsden County, at 34.1%; Broward, 39.9%; Osceola, 40.6%; Orange, 44%; and Hendry, 46.6%.

The county where the largest portion of the population identified themselves as “White alone” is Citrus County, at 87.5%. The next four were Holmes, Sumter, Nassau, and Gilchrist counties.

— Gadsden has Florida’s highest percentage of Black population. There, 54.4% of residents identified themselves as “Black alone” or “Black in combination” with some other ethnicity. Next highest were Madison County, 36.5%; Hamilton County, 33.4%; Jefferson County, 32.9%; and Leon County, 32.4%.

Florida’s lowest percentage of Black residents is found in Citrus, where they make up 3.8% of the population, followed by Sarasota, Gilchrist, Walton, and Martin counties.

— Florida’s most prominent Asian population is found in Alachua County, where 7.9% of the residents identified themselves as “Asian alone” or “Asian in combination.” Next were both Seminole and Orange counties at 6.8%; Duval, 6.3%; and Hillsborough, 6.1%.

Florida’s least prominent populations of Asian people are found in Lafayette and Franklin counties, where 0.5% of the population identified as Asian. They were followed by Union, Gadsden, Madison, and Dixie counties.

— Florida’s most Native American population is found in Calhoun County, where 4.4% of the population identified as Native American alone or Native American in combination. In Washington and Santa Rosa counties, 3.6% of the populations are Native American; Okaloosa County, 3.4%; and Walton County, 3.3%.

The least Native American county is Miami-Dade, with less than 1% of the population identifying as Native American, followed by Broward, Sumter, Lafayette, and Collier counties.