Census: Black population grows, women outnumber men in Hawaii

Hawaii’s racial makeup has shifted somewhat in the past five years, with the percentage of black residents growing significantly and with women now outnumbering men, according to new estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Those reporting black or African-American ancestry were the fastest-growing group in Hawaii, increasing by over 25 percent, although the state ranks 41st in the total number of black or African-American residents, who represent only 3 percent of the population. Meanwhile, the slight lead the men had over women in total population in 2000 has reversed. While men still outnumbered women in many racial categories (by over 23,000 among whites), the women outnumbered the men by over 34,000 among Asians, Hawaii’s largest racial group.

In total numbers, Hawaii ranked fourth in the number of people reporting Asian or part-Asian ancestry (733,672), behind Texas, New York, and California. But here, Asians made up the highest percentage of any state’s population by far, accounting for more than half the people in the islands. California was a distant second with an Asian population of about 13 percent.

Hawaii had the largest number of people reporting at least some Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander ancestry (281,832), accounting for about 22 percent of the island population. California’s total count wasn’t too far behind (256,917), although there Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islander represented only 1 percent of the state population. However, Hawaii residents reporting solely Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander status were the only racial group to see a decline, dropping by 1.5 percent or about 1,800 people since 2000.

The number of whites grew by over 9 percent, according to the Census Bureau estimates. But Hawaii had the smallest percentage of whites by far, representing only 23 percent of the island population, and the second smallest total number of whites (under 300,000), behind only the District of Columbia.

Residents reporting solely American Indian and Alaska Native ancestry grew by nearly 16 percent, but numbering only about 4,500, they represent less than 1 percent of Hawaii’s population.

The detailed estimates for all states are available at the U.S. Census Bureau website.