Rural counties lose population, Hispanic population increases nearly 75 percent

Wisconsin’s population grew 6 percent during the last decade, including an almost 75 percent increase in the Hispanic population, Census 2010 figures released Thursday show.

“Historically, Wisconsin’s Hispanic population has been heavily concentrated in more urban areas of the state, and it still is, but the concentration of Hispanics in more rural areas of the state increased significantly in the last decade,” says Richelle Winkler, a demographer and associate director of the Applied Population Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Census 2010 counts report 336,056 Hispanic residents in the state of Wisconsin, accounting for 5.9 percent of the total population.

Twenty rural Wisconsin counties lost population during the last decade — experiencing more deaths than births — part of a larger pattern of rural population loss across the Midwest, Winkler says. The census shows a shift from the 1990s, when only Milwaukee County experienced population loss. The population decline was mostly in the northern parts of the state, with Iron (down 14 percent), Florence (down 13 percent), and Price (down 11 percent) in the top three.

“Young people tend to move out of more rural areas for multiple reasons, including job opportunities, educational opportunities, the excitement of city life, and a desire for diversity and cultural amenities,” Winkler says.

The number of children in the state declined overall, by 2.1 percent, while the population of Hispanic children increased 81 percent from 10 years ago.

“The age structure of the Hispanic population is young, so that while only 5.9 percent of the total Wisconsin population identifies as Hispanic, 10.2 percent of children do,” Winkler says. “Wisconsin can continue to expect the population of Hispanics in the state to grow as these children reach adulthood and have children of their own.”

The number of multiracial children also increased 64 percent between 2000 and 2010.

Winkler says the data showed some other trends:

• Milwaukee County reversed its pattern of population loss and grew by 7,571 residents (+0.8 percent) between 2000 and 2010.
• Counties at the fringe of large metropolitan areas saw continued population growth, including St. Croix (34 percent), Calumet (21 percent), Jefferson (13 percent), Washington (12 percent), and in Sauk (12 percent).
• Dane County added more new residents 2000-10 than any other Wisconsin county, growing by 61,547 people (14 percent).
• Madison grew faster than any other city in the state, adding 25,155 residents; Sun Prairie grew the second fastest, adding 8,995 new residents (44 percent growth).