Hispanic Population Surge: Top 20 US States With Highest Growth

All the states on our chart saw their Hispanic populations more than double from 2000 to 2020. North Dakota, one of the coldest and furthest states from Latin America, had the most significant growth — +329% (more than 4x) in that same period. Does that sound incredible?

The funny thing about growth is that it can sound incredible until you see the absolute numbers. Keep that in mind the next time a startup tries to impress you by only sharing with you how much it has grown.

According to the US Census, less than 8K Hispanic people lived in North Dakota at the beginning of this century, representing only 1.2% of the state's population. As curious as we are to hear about how a Mexican or Colombian ends up in a state with temperatures as cold as -38 degrees Celcius last year, other states' growth rates are arguably more impressive when we look at the absolute numbers.

So, let's look at the other extreme of our top 20 chart: Georgia. By 2020, more than 1.3M Hispanics called it home, and they now account for more than 10% of the state's population.

If you're thinking: "That makes sense; there's a lot of cotton to be picked there, and the state needs a surplus of agricultural labor." You're only partially correct; according to OEC data, almost 50% of Georgia's trade goods are in the transportation sector and, along with several other sectors, require high-skilled labor to manufacture things like aircraft turbines and cars. Agriculture represents a small portion of the state's economy (cotton is about 3%).

As Hispanics become more ingrained into the US economy and span multiple generations, they're becoming increasingly educated and essential to the functioning of the biggest capitalist system in the world.