Diversity Committee
Mary Givhan, Chair

Where's Everybody Moving? The South!
By Elena Maria Lopez. diversityinc.com

People of all races and ethnicities are moving to the South in greater and greater numbers, according to a new Census Bureau report.

More Latinos, Asian Americans, African Americans and whites moved to the South from the other three regions of the country between 1995 to 2000 than moved away from the region, according to Census 2000 data.

"The South was the one place where it seems like, regardless of race or ethnicity, that every group is moving to," said Robert Bernstein, a spokesperson for the U.S. Census Bureau.

The population growth to the South is attributed to the economic growth of the region, said Jason Schachter, a Census Bureau demographer and the author of the new report, "Migration by Race and Hispanic Origin: 1995-2000." This is the continuation of a trend that started in the mid 1970s, he said, especially for African Americans moving to the region.

While the South gained population in all racial and ethnic categories, the Northeast has lost people in every demographic category.

But people shouldn't think, "the North was not depopulated, because it wasn't," said Schachter. While the Northeast has lost population of current U.S., immigration has contributed to overall population growth. For example:

• While 832,000 whites left the Northeast for another part of the country, 490,000 white immigrants arrived to the Northeast.
• While 230,000 African Americans or blacks left the Northeast for another part of the country, 200,000 black immigrants arrived to the Northeast.

• While 40,000 Asians or Asian Americans left the Northeast for another part of the country, 340,000 Asian immigrants arrived to the Northeast.
• While 150,000 Latinos left the Northeast for another part of the country, 470,000 Latino immigrants arrived to the Northeast

The West has had similar population trends to the Northeast:

• While 230,000 whites moved to the West from another part of the country, and additional 540,000 white immigrants arrived to the West.
• While 50,000 African Americans or blacks left the West for another part of the country, 75,000 black immigrants arrived to the West.
• While 3,000 Asians or Asian Americans moved to the West from another part of the country, an additional 510,000 Asian immigrants arrived to the West.
• While 160,000 Latinos left the West for another part of the country, more than one million Latino immigrants arrived to the West.

Other findings include:

• The Latino population increased in the Midwest. "More Latinos moved into the Midwest than left," said Schachter, "but there were low numbers there to begin with." While many Latino immigrants arrived at the traditional ports of entry, such as California, Florida and New York, he said, many were involved in a "secondary migration" as they moved to jobs in other regions.
• While the New England states lost net populations of whites and African Americans, larger numbers of Latinos and Asian Americans moved into the region.
• A lot of native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders moved to Nevada, said Schachter. But this can be attributed to the economic slowdown of Hawaii coupled with the growth of the hotel industry in Nevada.