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Latinos are making their mark in Houston and across the nation economically, according to the latest Metro Latino GDP Report. As of 2021, the Houston metro area is the second largest metropolitan statistical area in Texas. It’s also the fourth largest MSA in the nation by Latino population.

$581 billion - The Texas Latino GDP for 2021 matches the economic output of Michigan.

2.7 times - The Texas Latino GDP grew 2.7 times faster than the Non-Latino GDP from 2018 to 2021.

28.7 percent - Texas’ Latino population saw a growth of 28.7 percent from 2010 to 2021, compared to 12.9 percent for non-Latinos. READ MORE AT CLICK2HOUSTON

The total economic output of U.S. Latinos reached $3.2 trillion in 2021, inching closer to Germany's and staying ahead of India. A report shows U.S. Latino buying power and economic output grew by more than 14% despite the pandemic's disproportionate impact on Latino communities.

While the report focused on the overall strength of the U.S. Latino economy, it did not address the massive economic inequalities still facing Hispanics nationwide. READ MORE AT AXIOS

California, Texas, Florida, Arizona and New Mexico are the states with the highest Hispanic population. These states also have the highest concentration of Latino-owned businesses. In California, 85,000 of the total 764,000 businesses are owned by Hispanics or Latinos, which is equivalent to over 11% of all businesses in the state. These businesses provide jobs to an estimated 670,000 people and contribute $25 billion towards the state economy. These figures were shared by the Latino Policy and Politics Institute in August 2023. READ MORE AT YAHOO FINANCE

As patterns of immigration from Latin America change, Venezuelans have now become the fastest-growing Latino group in the U.S., according to the report, which also noted that immigrants make up a declining share of Latinos in the country.

Between 2010 and 2021, the Venezuelan population in the U.S. increased by 169%, from roughly 240,000 to 640,000, researchers found.. Dominicans and Guatemalans followed with growth rates of 60% each.

While Mexicans remain the largest Latino origin group, they had the slowest growth rate — 13%. READ MORE AT THE LA TIMES

A recent data analysis of the 2020 census shows the number of Latino children in the U.S. grew by more than 1 million in a 10-year period.

The analysis, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, offers additional insight into the U.S. population and the ways it has changed since the previous census in 2010. Researchers found that 25.7% (18.8 million) of all U.S. children under 18 were of Latino origin in 2020, up from 23.1% (17.1 million) in 2010.

The Latino population also saw an increase in their overall median age to 30 years old, up 2.7 years from 2010. Non-Hispanics’ median age also grew, but less: they reached a median of 41.1 years of age in 2020, up 1.5 years from 2010. READ MORE AT NBCNEWS

Latinos contributed at least $65.1 billion to the Phoenix-area economy, according to a new report measuring the gross domestic product of the region's fastest growing demographic group. That is higher than the entire economies of the states of Maine and North Dakota, the report found.

Latinos comprise 1.5 million, or 31% of the total Phoenix metro population. That makes the Phoenix metro area the 8th largest in the U.S. by Latino population. READ MORE AT AZCENTRAL

The numbers of long awaited 2020 U.S. Census is out. The national survey on population, housing, education and racial make-up of the U.S. population shows we are more diverse than ever. Nearly 25 million people nationally reported they identified with two or more races, that’s a 275% increase from 2010. READ MORE AT CBS8

Chicago’s Black population is at its lowest point in more than 60 years, according to 2020 census data released Thursday. While the pace of Black population loss slowed over the past decade, the number of Chicago’s Black residents dipped to about 788,000 in 2020, according to the census data. That’s the lowest it’s been since before 1960. Latinos are now the city’s second-largest racial or ethnic group, growing by 5% — from roughly 779,000 in 2010 to nearly 820,000 in 2020. READ MORE AT WBEZ

Latinos drove the country’s demographic growth, shooting up to 62.1 million, the Census Bureau announced Thursday. One of the biggest findings is the big growth in Latinos who identified as more than one race, while the number of Hispanics who identified as white dropped significantly. READ MORE AT CNBC NEWS

For the first time, non-Hispanic white residents now make up less than half (49.9%) of the nation’s under age 15 population, newly released 2018 U.S. Census Bureau estimates show. The new data highlight the increasing racial diversity of the nation’s overall population, for which non-Hispanic whites now comprise only slightly more than three-fifths (60.4%) of all residents.

But the fact that white children under 15 have already become a minority in their age group puts an exclamation point on the fact that the nation’s diversity is percolating from the “bottom up” as the white population ages. READ MORE AT BROOKINGS

When Fernando Molina left central Mexico to move to Illinois, he was searching for affordable housing, job opportunities and established Hispanic neighborhoods with grocery stores, bakeries and clothing shops.

He didn't head for Chicago, a well-known magnet for Mexicans pondering the journey north. Instead, he settled in Aurora, about 40 miles to the west.

"It's like Mexico inside the United States," said Molina, 37, a social worker who has lived in the U.S. for more than a decade and now assists other immigrant families. "You can find everything in the stores."

Over the last decade, tens of thousands of others have followed his path to Aurora — more than 35,000 of about 55,000 new residents between 2000 and 2010 were Hispanic. The city, which is now 40 percent Hispanic, has surpassed Rockford to become Illinois' second-largest city.

The trend of immigrants heading directly to American suburbs instead of starting in a major city intensified from 2000 to 2010 — and was one factor in Illinois' 32.5 percent increase in Hispanic population in that period, according to recently released U.S. Census data.

Demographers say they aren't just seeing it around Chicago. The same thing is happening around other major cities that have long been entry points for immigrants, such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Even as the steep growth of the Hispanic population in Chicago tapered off, the arrival of Hispanics helped make Kendall County west of Aurora the fastest growing county in the U.S. for several years during the decade.

For many Hispanics in northern Illinois, Aurora supplanted Chicago as a cultural hub, and the growth has transformed smaller and smaller towns. READ MORE