Brooks et al.: Ethnoracial Diversity Across Nonmetropolitan America
In Uneven Growth and Unexpected Drivers of Ethnoracial Diversity Across Nonmetropolitan and Metropolitan America, Matthew M. Brooks (Sociology and Center for Demography and Population Health, Florida State University), J. Tom Mueller (Population Heath, University of Kansas Medical Center), Brian C. Thiede (Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education and Population Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University), and Daniel T. Lichter (Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell University) provide an updated statistical portrait of ethnoracial diversity in the United States since 2000, focusing on issues of ethnoracial diversity in nonmetropolitan America.
Racial and ethnic diversity is expected to continue to increase in the US, and the growth of minoritized ethnoracial populations is important to understanding the country’s demographic future. Most studies focus on identifying diversity in cities and suburbs. This study shifts the focus to nonmetropolitan areas.
The authors use four data metrics to identify demographic shifts: censuses data, population decline/growth, ethnoracial representations, and residential exposure to diversity. This data suggests that Hispanic settlement patterns have significantly influenced nonmetropolitan areas. Hispanic populations accounted for 64% of all growth in nonmetropolitan counties between 1980 and 2019. This effectively offsets the otherwise shrinking nonmetropolitan population.
In nonmetropolitan counties, ethnoracial diversity between 2000 and 2020 increased about 30%. This increase is primarily due to the multiracial population and Hispanic population. Another contributor is the aging White population and low fertility rates.
The authors recognize some limitations with the research, most notably with multiracial representation in data. The jump in census data likely results from both a greater willingness to identify as multiracial and decreasing historical prejudice against interracial unions. The authors hope that the data in this study offer a baseline for future research on ethnoracial relations, political representations, and socioeconomic inequality.
