(The Center Square) – According to new U.S. Census Bureau data, Texas has the greatest number of Black Americans in the U.S.
Harris County, the largest county in Texas and third-largest county in America, has the second-largest Black population of all counties.
Black Americans accounted for 15% of the overall national population in 2022, totaling 50,087,750, up 0.9% from July 2021, according to the Census data.
Among them, Texas had the largest Black population last year, totaling 4,334,313. That’s an increase of 120,945 people, or 2.9% from July 2021. Roughly 13.4% of Texas residents are Black or African American alone, according to the data.
Harris County had the second-largest Black population of 1,032,566, behind Cook County, Illinois’ 1,260,073. These two counties were the only counties in the country with a Black population totaling over 1 million.
While the Black population increased in 67% of U.S. counties last year, Harris County saw the greatest numeric gain, an increase of nearly 23,000, according to the data.
Among Texas counties with Black populations over 10,000, Kaufman County reported the fastest-growing Black population of 6,207 from 2021 to 2022, or 21%.
Hispanics surpassed non-Hispanic whites last year, comprising 40.2% of the population compared to 39.8% non-Hispanic white Texans, according to the data.
Overall, the U.S. gained 1 million Hispanic residents last year, an increase of 1.7%. Texas had the second greatest number of Hispanic residents of 12,068,549 last year, behind California’s 15,732,180 and ahead of Florida’s 6,025,030.
Harris County also had the second-largest Hispanic population last year of 2,131,839, behind Los Angeles County’s 4,766,616 and ahead of Miami-Dade County’s 1,848,083.
Harris County also reported the largest gaining Hispanic population of 34,782, a 1.7% increase.
Kaufman County’s Hispanic population increased by 5,741 people or 14.1%, representing the fastest growth among counties with a Hispanic population over 10,000.
Overall, Texas’ population grew by 15.9% between 2010 and 2020, according to the Texas Demographics Center. Nearly all the growth, 95.3%, was attributed to an increase in minority populations. The Hispanic population grew in Texas by 49.5% over the decade, followed by an increase of 13.9% of non-Hispanic Blacks, 15.3% of non-Hispanic Asians, and 16.5% non-Hispanic other.
According to the data, the Hispanic or Latino population outpaced the non-Hispanic white population by 40.2% to 39.4% in 2021.
