Although racial minorities in North Dakota continue to represent a relatively small proportion of the state’s total population (less than one in 10), their numbers are rising.

This month’s “Population Bulletin,” a monthly publication from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University, presents the July 1, 2007, population estimates by race as released from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Population Division.

These estimates reveal a continuing increase in population diversity throughout North Dakota. The state’s racial minority population (people who are nonwhite or report multiple races) totaled 53,687, which is 8.4 percent of the state’s total population of 639,715. While the white population (which comprises the vast majority of all people in the state) declined 1.8 percent (10,690 people) from 2000 through 2007, the racial minority population in North Dakota grew by 18 percent (8,205 people).

The American Indian population, North Dakota’s largest racial minority, grew by 3,017 from 2000 through 2007, an increase of 9.6 percent. During the same period, the black population grew by 2,387, (57.4 percent), Asian population by 1,313 (33.6 percent) and people of multiple races by 1,488 (24.9 percent).

The Hispanic population (an ethnic category reported separately from race) represents 1.9 percent of North Dakota’s total population and grew by 4,216 people (54.1 percent) from 2000 through 2007. Nationally, the Hispanic population grew 28.9 percent from 2000 through 2007.

“The growth in North Dakota’s racial minority and Hispanic populations is helping us stabilize some of our population losses, especially in rural counties,” says Richard Rathge, State Data Center director. “This is especially important given the labor shortages we’re experiencing.”

NDSU Agriculture Communication