La Paz, Ariz., Population is Nation’s Oldest County

La Paz County, Ariz. — located on the California border and home to the Colorado River Indian Reservation — has the country’s oldest population, according to U.S. Census Bureau county population estimates by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin released today. Webb County (Laredo), Texas — on the Mexican border in the southern part of the state — has the country’s youngest population, with children younger than 5 comprising 12.8 percent.

La Paz — with 32 percent of its population 65 or older on July 1, 2007 — led 24 counties with at least one-quarter of their populations 65 or older. Nine of these counties were in Florida, with four in Texas and three in Michigan.

Meanwhile, 302 counties, or nearly one in every 10, are “majority-minority” — meaning the county had a population with more than 50 percent minority residents.

Among the majority-minority counties with a minority population of 1 million or more were Bronx, N.Y.; Miami-Dade, Fla.; Los Angeles, Calif.; Queens, N.Y.; Bexar (San Antonio) and Dallas, Texas; San Bernardino, Calif.; Kings (Brooklyn), N.Y.; Harris (Houston), Texas; Santa Clara (San Jose) and Riverside, Calif.; Cook (Chicago), Ill.; and Orange, Calif.

Los Angeles County had the largest minority population in the country in 2007. At 7 million, or 71 percent of its total, Los Angeles County was home to one in every 14 of the nation’s minority residents. The county’s minority population was higher than the total population of all but 12 states.

Maricopa County, Ariz., gained 79,000 minority residents between 2006 and 2007, to lead the nation. Maricopa (Phoenix is its largest city) now has a minority population of 1.6 million, comprising 41 percent of its total. Its minority population ranks seventh nationally.

Based on total population, Starr County in south Texas had the highest proportion of minorities of all counties, at 98 percent. All but two of the top 10 counties in this category were along or near the Mexican border.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 7th, 2008 and is filed under Fast Facts, Source File, Statistics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.