Hispanics make up nearly 30% of Ariz. population

Arizona is adding more Hispanics to its population each year than all other groups, according to new figures today from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The federal agency reports there were 1,878,097 Arizonans who identified themselves as Hispanic as of July 1, 2007. That is an increase of 89,140, or 5 percent.

That left 4,460,658 who said they are not of Hispanic origin. That 1.9 percent boost from the prior year translates into just 83,926 new residents.

The result is that nearly 30percent of Arizonans are Hispanic. That is nearly twice as much as the national average of 15.1 percent. And the national year-over-year Hispanic growth rate was just 3.1 percent.

But Arizona's Hispanic population still trails the other three border states: 44 percent of New Mexico's population is Hispanic, followed by California and Texas, at 35 percent each.

Since the 2000 census, the number of Hispanics have increased by almost 565,000. The number of Hispanics in the state is 45 percent more than at the beginning of the decade.

Arizona Population

Date / Hispanic / Total / %

7-1-07 / 1,878,097 / 6,338,755 / 29.6%

7-1-06 / 1,788,957 / 6,165,689 / 29.0%

7-1-05 / 1,690,153 / 5,925,283 / 28.4%

7-1-04 / 1,698,893 / 5,744,367 / 27.8%

7-1-03 / 1,524,336 / 5,579,307 / 27.3%

7-1-02 / 1,456,251 / 5,444,841 / 26.7%

7-1-01 / 1,383,383 / 5,301,097 / 26.1%

4-1-00 / 1,295,617 / 5,130,632 / 25.3%

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Arizona population

Date Hispanic Total Percent

7-1-07 1,878,097 6,338,755 29.6%

7-1-06 1,788,957 6,165,689 29.0%

7-1-05 1,690,153 5,925,283 28.4%

7-1-04 1,698,893 5,744,367 27.8%

7-1-03 1,524,336 5,579,307 27.3%

7-1-02 1,456,251 5,444,841 26.7%

7-1-01 1,383,383 5,301,097 26.1%

4-1-00 1,295,617 5,130,632 25.3%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau