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Texas became a majority-minority state — one where whites makeup less than 50 percent of the population — sometime between 2002 and 2004. There are still more white people than any other ethnic group in the state, and whites still accounted for 57 percent of eligible voters in 2012, but that will eventually change, too.
New data from the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, show just when the bigger demographic tipping points might happen. According to the authors of the study, which has been compiled into a cool set of interactive charts, by 2020 Hispanics will become the largest ethnic group in the state, making up 42 percent of Texans. By 2044, the state will be majority Hispanic and only 31 percent white, the researchers say.
The trends among Texans who are eligible to vote is similar, if more gradual. By 2036, there will be more Hispanic Texans eligible to vote than white Texans. In 2056, if the researchers’ model is correct, the majority of Texans eligible to vote will be Hispanic.
The research includes similar numbers for every state and the United States as a whole, with projections extending until 2060. As it stands, Texas is one of three states that is currently majority-minority, along with New Mexico and California. The study projects that Nevada, Maryland, Arizona and Georgia will join the club in the next decade.
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