Minority growth rapid in Utah

Maria Vasquez says she's noticed a "big change" since she moved to Sandy from Peru 12 years ago.

"Hispanics were very low in numbers," Vasquez said. "Now, they've grown up a lot."

Vasquez's observations match a new census report that shows Utah's minority population growth continuing to outpace the growth of the non-Hispanic white majority.

Utah's largest minority group, Hispanics had grown to more than a quarter million on July 1, 2004, an estimated 25 percent increase since the April 2000 population estimates base, according to population estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

One in 10 Utahns is now Hispanic, said Robert Spendlove, manager of demographic and economic analysis for the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget.

Minorities comprise about 16 percent of the state's estimated 2.4 million population, according to the census.

The signs of increasing diversity are easy to find in Salt Lake County, which saw a nearly 3 percentage point growth in its minority population from April 1, 2001, to July 1, 2004.

The number of languages spoken at Salt Lake School District hovers around 80. There also are now at least three minority-focused chambers of commerce in Utah — Hispanic, Latin American and Asian.

On State Street, Maria Vasquez's family owns La Cabanita, a market that caries a variety of products, from the Peruvian Inca Kola to Panet�n, a fruit cake traditional for the recent Independence Day celebration and other holidays. The same mini-mall, Midtown Plaza, is home to businesses ranging from a travel agency advertising "viajes/travel" to a Hawaiian barbecue.

Yet, despite its increasing diversity, Utah remains among the states with overwhelming majorities of white, non-Hispanics. The estimates show Utah ranking 36th nationally in its percentage of ethnic minorities.

The Census Bureau considers minorities to be all people except non-Hispanic whites of a single race. Hispanic is considered a separate category from race, so Hispanics may belong to any race.

Nationally, non-Hispanic whites comprised 67.4 percent of the nation's estimated 293.7 million population. With an estimated population of 41.3 million, Hispanics comprised the largest minority group.

Texas has joined Hawaii, New Mexico and California as what are considered majority-minority states, along with the District of Columbia, according to the census. Texas' minority population of 11.3 million comprises 50.2 percent of the state's population.

In contrast, Maine and Vermont, each with 96 percent white non-Hispanics, were the least diverse states, according to the report.