On September 27, 2012, the United States Census Bureau announced that the 2010 Census shows the multiple-race population growing faster than the single-race population.  Multiple races grew by 32 percent while the single-race population only grew by 9.2 percent. 

The first time U.S. citizens were allowed to self-identify with multiple races was on the 2000 Census.  According to Nicholas Jones, the chief of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Racial Statistics Branch, states, “These comparisons show substantial growth in the multiple-race population, providing detailed insights to how this population has grown and diversified over the past decade.” 

The following information was released by the U.S. Census Bureau on September 27:

Race Combination Changes:

·  The four largest multiple-race combinations were white and black, white and “some other race,” white and Asian, and white and American Indian/Alaska Native. 

·  The white and black population equaled 1.8 million; white and another race equaled 1.7 million; white and Asian equaled 1.6 million; and the white and American Indian equaled 1.4 million

·  The white and black population increased 134 percent, and the white and Asian population grew by 87 percent

Multiple-Races by State:

·  16 states reported that at least one multiple-race population grew by 200,000 or more

·  California, Texas and New York all had at least one multiple-race population grow by 500,000 or more

·  The southern states of South Carolina, North Carolina, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Mississippi all saw a multiple-race population grow by 70 percent or more

·  22 states saw the multiple-race population grow by at least 50 percent

A person falls into the multiple-race population when they choose two or more options from the six different race categories on the Census.  There are 57 different multiple-race combinations.

Source: Census Bureau