American Indian & Alaska Native Population Grew by 2.1 percent within a Year

Native News Network Staff in Native Briefs. Discussion »

WASHINGTON – The nation's American Indian and Alaska Native population was an estimated 6.3 million in 2011, up 2.1 percent from 2010, according to numbers released by the US Census Bureau on Thursday.

Future Tribal Chairman

California had the largest American Indian and Alaska Native population of any state in 2011 with 1,050,000, and also the largest numeric increase since 2010 at 23,000. Alaska had the highest percentage of American Indians and Alaska Natives with 9.6 percent.

Los Angeles had the largest American Indians and Alaska Native population of any county in 2011 with 231,000, and also the largest numeric increase at 9,000 since 2010. Shannon County, South Dakota – on the Nebraska border and located entirely within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation – had the highest percentage of American Indians and Alaska Natives at 93.6 percent.

The US Census Bureau also released a set of estimates showing that 50.4 percent of our nation's population younger than age 1 were minorities as of July 1, 2011. This is up from 49.5 percent from the 2010 Census taken April 1, 2010.

A minority is anyone who is not single-race white and not Hispanic.

LA has largest AIAN Population

The population younger than age 5 was 49.7 percent minority in 2011, up from 49.0 percent in 2010. A population greater than 50 percent minority is considered "majority-minority."

These are the first set of population estimates by race, Hispanic origin, age and sex since the 2010 Census. They examine population change for these groups nationally, as well as within all states and counties, between Census Day (April 1, 2010) and July 1, 2011.

The Nation Slowly Ages

There was a small uptick in the nation's median age, from 37.2 years in 2010 to 37.3 in 2011. The 65 and older population increased from 40.3 million to 41.4 million over the period and included 5.7 million people 85 and older. Likewise, working-age adults (age 18 to 64) saw their numbers rise by about 2 million to 196.3 million in 2011. In contrast, the number of children under 18, 74.0 million in 2011, declined by about 200,000 over the period, largely because of the decline in high school age children 14 to 17.

Maine had a higher median age than any other state (43.2), with Utah having the lowest median age of 29.5. Florida had the highest percentage of its population 65 and older with 17.6 percent, followed by Maine with 16.3 percent. Utah had the highest percentage of its total population younger than 5 years old with 9.3 percent.

Among counties, Sumter, Florida, was the nation's "oldest," with 45.5 percent of its population 65 and older, and Geary, Kansas, was the nation's "youngest" with 11.4 percent younger than 5 years old.

posted May 18, 2012 6:00 am edt