By Jeremy Rhodes
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, I thought I’d post a little something about demographic change among Hispanics in Texas. According to a recent release of data from the Census Bureau, Hispanics are now the largest racial/ethnic group in Texas, at 40.2% (39.4% of Texans are White).
The last decade has seen an incremental growth of the Texas Hispanic population relative to other groups, and an incremental decline of White Texans over that same period. While Hispanics do not yet make up a majority of Texans, they are very close to making up a majority of children in Texas. The latest estimates show that 49.3% of Texans under 18 are Hispanic.
The chart below shows the same demographic data for Waco only. Waco has not seen the same demographic change as the rest of the state. Over the last 10 years, the percentage of Wacoans who are White has gone up slightly, from 42.9% to 45.3%. The percentage of Wacoans who are Hispanic has gone down slightly, from 33.6% to 29.3%.
Although Waco’s Hispanic population has not increased over the last 10 years, we should expect the percentage of Hispanics in Waco to climb as we look to future demographic change in Waco. According to 2021 estimates, about 15% of Waco’s White population is under the age of 18, while 33% of Waco’s Hispanic population is under 18. It won’t happen anytime soon, but if current trends continue, Hispanics will eventually become the largest racial/ethnic group in the city.
Jeremy Rhodes, Ph.D., is director of research & community impact with Prosper Waco.