HDG #028: The 2020 Census release is a BFD—here’s why
Read time: 10 minutes
Greetings, Gurus! Last week, I posted on Linkedin about how—for the first time in the history of the U.S. Census Bureau—the "Some Other Race" (SOR) category was instead broken out into 22 detailed groups with its recent 2020 decennial Census release.
👏 Shout out to my fellow "Some Other Race"-ers out there 👏
Only 2 people liked it, so naturally decided it should be our topic this week because it’s actually a BFD when you also consider the other changes the Census made with this long-awaited release.
With the 2020 release, the U.S. Census has expanded its palette to include over 200 detailed race and ethnicity groups, a significant leap from the meager 15 race categories recognized in the 2010 Census.
For the first time, the U.S. Census Bureau is lifting the veil on a more detailed racial and ethnic composition of our country, and the portrait is nothing short of astounding.
And that’s a big deal.
This reflects a conscious effort to capture the truth of the complex, nuanced identities that define the modern American experience, and I have to tell you that I am here for it.
Not to mention…
”Census release shows America is more diverse and more multiracial than ever.” -CNN
And that’s an even bigger deal!
This truth is partially getting exposed as more data starting to simply become available.
For example, the "Some Other Race" (SOR) category now includes a wide range of groups, from non-Hispanic groups like Mauritanian to Multiracial and Multiethnic responses such as “Biracial” and Hispanic responses like “Mexican.” And according to the Census, detailed data are now available for 104 White groups (Dutch, Lebanese, etc.), 62 Black or African American groups (Congolese, Grenadian, etc.) and 22 Some Other Race groups (Brazilian, Belizean, etc.). The 2020 Census also marks the first time data for regional groups was released, including Middle Eastern and North African, Caribbean, Sub-Saharan African, Polynesian and more.
But it is also being reflected in the data trends. CNN reports, for example, “people of color represented 43% of the total US population in 2020, up from 34% in 2010.“
I was also inspired by CNN's use of Mapbox to create a racial dot density map to illustrates the “most diverse USA ever captured by the Census.” CNN's senior data and visuals editor, John Keefe, and his team harnessed the power of Mapbox to transform the raw data of the 2020 Census into a vivid dot density map (here’s a link to the viz and here’s a link to the geekier-Mapbox-article-on-how).
This visualization isn't just a static picture; it's an interactive experience that allows us to see the granular racial and ethnic makeup of every community across the country. It reveals a nation more diverse than any census before has shown, with detailed racial and ethnic data now visible at the neighborhood level, and it underscores the geographical distribution of various communities, highlighting how certain ethnic groups are clustered in specific regions. I’d love to see it drilling down further to some of the newer subgroups in future releases.
The Story Behind the Numbers
The Census has been analyzing the 2020 results as well. “Our analysis of the 2020 Census results show that the US population is much more multiracial, and more racially and ethnically diverse than what we measured in the past,” said Nicholas Jones, the director and senior advisor of race and ethnic research and outreach in the US Census Bureau’s population division.
The Census Bureau's decision to disaggregate the "Some Other Race" category was a response to the changing self-identification trends observed across the nation. For decades, millions of Americans found themselves relegated to the residual category of "Some Other Race," a catch-all that failed to recognize the rich diversity of those who did not fit neatly into predefined boxes. Similar issues were faced among the myriad sub-groups of all the other major categories. When you really think about it, it is kind of mind-blowing how few there were to begin with.
All together, the new 2020 Detailed Demographic and Housing Characteristics File A (Detailed DHC-A) data now provides population counts for:
30 detailed and four regional Hispanic origin groups.
270 detailed race groups.
1,187 AIAN tribes and villages.
24 regional race groups.
. . .
The newly released data offers some interesting snack-sized insights that I found here and elsewhere on the Census’ site:
Hispanic or Latino Population
The Mexican population (35.9 million) was the largest detailed Hispanic origin group in 2020, followed by Puerto Rican at 5.6 million and Salvadoran at 2.3 million.
White Population
The Lebanese (685,672), Iranian (568,564), and Egyptian (396,854) alone or in any combination populations represented nearly half of the 3.5 million respondents who reported a Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) response in the 2020 Census — the first census to include MENA examples in a write-in response area. MENA examples were included with the White category following the standards set by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget in 1997, which classify MENA responses as part of the White racial category.
Black or African American Population
The Sub-Saharan African alone population totaled 2.3 million and the Sub-Saharan alone or in any combination population totaled 2.8 million. The Caribbean alone population totaled 2.1 million and the Caribbean alone or in any combination population totaled 2.6 million.
American Indian and Alaska Native Population
Among all American Indian and Alaska Native groups, Aztec (387,122) was the largest alone group and Cherokee (1.5 million) the largest alone or in any combination group in 2020. • Among American Indian respondents, the Navajo Nation was the most common alone response with 315,086 people, and Cherokee the most common alone or in any combination response with 1.5 million people.
Asian Population
The Nepalese population was the fastest growing Asian group among those with populations of 50,000 or more in 2010. The Nepalese alone population increased 295.5% from 51,907 in 2010 to 205,297 in 2020, and the Nepalese alone or in any combination population grew 269.0% from 59,490 to 219,503 over the decade.
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Population
The fastest growing NHPI alone or in any combination group was Papua New Guinean, which increased by 249.3% to 1,453 people during the decade.
Some Other Race Population
The Brazilian community, previously obscured within broader categories, has emerged as the most reported within the detailed "Some Other Race" groups. The multiracial and multiethnic narratives are gaining visibility, with Californians leading the nation in "write-in" responses that defy traditional racial classifications.
Implications for Health Equity Research and Analysis
This isn't just data for data's sake (which is still valuable imho). The implications for health equity are profound. By understanding the nuanced differences within communities, we can better tailor health interventions, policies, and services to meet the unique needs of an increasingly diverse population. With the ability to identify specific health disparities within these newly recognized groups, health data professionals and policymakers can now develop targeted interventions that address the unique health needs and challenges of these communities.
Identity and Inclusion
The data is more than a collection of dots—it's also a reflection of our communities, our neighbors, and ourselves. As someone deeply entrenched in the world of health data, I find this evolution in data collection both heartening and essential. If you're like me, finding a checkbox that represents your identity might feel like fitting a square peg into a round hole. This nuanced approach to data collection resonates with those of us whose identities don’t fit squarely within pre-conceived labels.
It is also step towards inclusivity. It acknowledges the fluidity of identity and the inadequacy of current labeling systems classifications in acknowledging (let alone capturing) the reality of our nation, which perpetuates people falling through the cracks simply because the data overlooks them (like I wrote about last week).
. . .
Actionable Idea of the Week:
Familiarize yourself with the changes made to the Census data and what this means for your communities, neighborhoods, and analyses.
Here are some links to help get you started:
Census release shows America is more diverse and more multiracial than ever - CNN’s analysis on population changes and insights, including increasing percentage of people of color
New Population Counts for Nearly 1,500 Race and Ethnicity Groups - details on response rates by group and tools to explore the new data
New Population Counts for 62 Detailed Black or African American Groups - analysis on the responses in the Black or African American Group
. . .
Aside from its stated improvements, the 2020 Census data is also a call to action for those of us in the health data sphere to level up our data collection. It’s also a reminder to think about how/if the existing labels/categories that we present to people might hinder our downstream ability to segment and best serve them.
Though a necessary and lofty first step, I deeply encourage everyone to think beyond race/ethnicity, as well. Topics for a future post!
See you next week!
-Stefany
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