US Hispanic Population Exceeds 50M

The latest Census Bureau numbers mark a milestone for the Hispanic population in the US—the figure exceeds 50 million for the first time. The total (50,477,594 to be exact) is a 43% increase from a decade ago, reports CNN. Related stats:

• Hispanics, now the nation's second largest population group, make up 16% of the population.
• Latinos accounted for more than half of the nation's overall growth of 27.3 million. (The new total is 308.7 million.) About 1 in 4 kids under 18 are Hispanic.

• Whites grew by 2.2 million to 196.8 million, though their share of the overall population shrank from 69% to 64%.
• Asians grew 43%, from 10.2 million to 14.7 million. That's 5% of the population.
• African-Americans grew by 4.3 million to 40 million, or about 12.6% of the population.
• The Hispanic population more than doubled in nine states, including Alabama, Kentucky, and Maryland, notes ABC. In New Mexico, the Hispanic population (46%) exceeds the white population (40%) for the first time.

Click here for more on the Hispanic surge or here to see the nation's new population center. (More census stories.)