Which Race Is Increasing the Most in the United States?

The United States has been getting more racially and ethnically diverse with every Census count for decades. But not all groups are growing at the same pace, and the answer to which group is growing fastest depends on whether you measure by percentage growth rate or by raw numbers added. Both ways of looking at it tell an interesting story.

By growth rate: Asian Americans are growing the fastest

Measured by percentage growth, Asian Americans are the fastest growing major racial group in the United States. According to The World Data's analysis of Census Bureau Vintage 2024 estimates, the Asian American population's 4.2% growth rate represents the fastest expansion of any major racial group, driven primarily by sustained immigration and a younger age structure that contributes to positive natural increase.

The longer-term trend confirms this. According to PBS NewsHour reporting on a Pew Research Center analysis, between 2000 and 2019 the Asian population grew 81%, compared to 70% growth among Hispanic Americans, 61% among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, and just 20% among Black Americans. The white population grew about 1% over that same period. According to Axios's analysis of Census data from 2000 to 2022, the Asian population grew about 105% over that period, reaching 21 million - more than doubling in two decades.

A large part of Asian American growth traces back to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which removed restrictive national origin quotas that had severely limited Asian immigration since the 1920s. According to the PBS NewsHour report, that policy change dramatically opened up immigration from Asian nations, and the compounding effect of those arrivals - their children and grandchildren born in the US - accounts for a significant share of current growth alongside continued new immigration.

By raw numbers: Hispanic Americans are adding the most people

In absolute terms, the Hispanic population adds more people per year than any other group. According to Brookings's analysis of Census Bureau 2024 population estimates, the Hispanic share of the US population rose from 18.8% to 20% between 2020 and 2024, the largest share increase of any group. The Hispanic population is now approximately 68 million people, making it the nation's largest ethnic minority by a substantial margin.

The combination of continued immigration and a younger median age drives this growth. According to Brookings, the white median age is 43.7 compared to 29.8 for Hispanic Americans. A younger population means more people in their prime childbearing years and fewer deaths relative to births - a powerful structural advantage that compounds over time regardless of immigration trends.

The multiracial population is growing fastest of all by one measure

The two-or-more-races population - people who identify with more than one racial category - is growing faster than any other group in percentage terms when measured decade to decade. According to the Census Bureau's 2020 Census release, improvements to how the Census measures race and ethnicity revealed that the US population is much more multiracial than previously measured. Between 2020 and 2024, the two-or-more-races share rose from 2.1% to 2.5%, according to Brookings - a 19% increase in just four years.

This growth reflects two things happening simultaneously: actual increases in multiracial families and children, and more people choosing to identify their full racial background when given better options on the Census form. The 2020 Census made significant changes to how it asked about race and ethnicity, and many people who previously identified as one race now identify as two or more. Separating genuine demographic change from measurement improvement is difficult, but both are real.

What is happening to the white population

The non-Hispanic white population is the only major group that has experienced natural decrease - more deaths than births - in recent years. According to Brookings, white Americans sustained a natural decrease of 1,073,206 over the 2010 to 2019 period, partially offset by a net gain of roughly 1,056,594 white immigrants. The white population share fell from 59.5% to 57.5% between 2020 and 2024 according to the most recent Census estimates, continuing a decades-long trend.

The older median age of the white population - 43.7 compared to a national median of about 38.9 - is the primary structural driver. An older population generates more deaths and fewer births relative to its size. This is not unique to the United States; most wealthy countries with predominantly European-ancestry populations are seeing the same dynamic.

What this means at the city and neighborhood level

These national trends play out very differently across geographies. States like Texas and California have been majority-minority for years, with Hispanic and Asian populations concentrated in the large metro areas. States like Vermont and Maine remain among the least diverse in the country, with non-Hispanic white populations above 90%.

At the city and neighborhood level, the demographic shifts are even more varied. The interactive tract map makes this visible - you can zoom into any metro area and see how racial and ethnic composition varies block by block, and how it has changed since 1990. Some neighborhoods have shifted dramatically in a single decade. Others have been demographically stable for fifty years. The Census data captures both, and the full time series going back to 1990 is available for every tract, ZIP code, and city on CensusEasy.

You can explore the racial and ethnic breakdown for any city, county, or state using the Compare tool, or pull up any place directly on the homepage.