Susan Brower, Minnesota Compass
Are there any immigration trends that we should be watching?
Most people know that the region is becoming more diverse in terms of both race and immigrant populations, but in the past we have often looked at these trends separately. We have just added a new data series that shows how the composition of racial and ethnic groups has changed over the last 20 years with respect to the percentage of foreign born people within groups.
Within the Black population, the number of foreign born residents has increased substantially over the last two decades. In 1990, about five percent of Black residents were foreign born; in 2007, about 30 percent of all Black residents were born outside the U.S. Of course, this change reflects the large number of African immigrants that have come to the region over the last 15 years or so.
The Hispanic population has undergone a similar change over the last 20 years. In 1990, 15 percent of Hispanics were born outside of the U.S.; by 2007 43 percent of the Hispanics in the region were foreign born.
The percentage of the Asian population that is foreign born increased from 63 percent in 1990 to 68 percent in 2007. As a percent of the Asian population, the percent of foreign born hasn't increased much over the last 20 years, but the number of foreign born Asians has nearly doubled, reaching nearly 100,000 in 2007.
What are the implications of these trends for our region?
Across racial groups, we see differences in employment, homeownership rates, and educational achievement, among others. Understanding that diversity exists within these traditional racial categories can point us in new directions when thinking about how to close gaps in well-being between different groups in our region.
Of course to better understand how, for example, Blacks born here differ from African immigrants, we need to keep track of information in a way that allows us to get at the potential differences. While the Twin Cities Compass library includes several one-time studies that address these issues, the fact is that relatively few ongoing data series track this level of detail in our region. Two key measures of our region's health that do allow us to look at specific immigrant groups, obesity and diabetes rates, reveal big differences, with big implications for policy making and targeted interventions.
Are there any new reports you'd like to recommend?
The State Demographic Center just came out with population forecasts by racial and ethnic group to the year 2035. In the 7-county region, the White population and American Indian population are projected to decline slightly over the next 25 years. Nearly all of the growth in the region is projected to be to Populations of Color; and much of that change will be driven by migration.
Black and Asian populations are projected to grow roughly 60 to 70 percent over the next 25 years. The Hispanic population is expected to increase even more; it is projected to more than double by 2035.
These projections tell us that we can expect the region to become substantially more diverse in terms of race, and likely more diverse in terms of the number of foreign born people living here. Research like this presents us with a great opportunity to plan for the changes that will continue to affect our schools, places of work and neighborhoods.
Susan Brower is a research associate on the Compass project. She specializes in demography, survey research and quantitative analysis. Susan holds a B.A. in Social Work from St. Olaf College, a Master's degree in Public Policy from the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, and a Master's degree in Sociology from the University of Michigan.