New Census Bureau Report Offers Details of Westchester's Residents

In Westchester County as across the country, the population has become older and more Asian and Hispanic since the 2010 Census, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 Population Estimates.

However, we are even older than the nation as a whole. The median  age in Westchester last year was 40.3 (it was 40 in 2010). Nationwide, the median age rose to 37.4 years in 2012, up from 37.2 in 2010.

We have fewer children around: now there are 226,495 under 18 compared to 228,000 under 18 in 2010. And, the number of folks over 85 rose: 24,625 compared to 22,727 in 2010. 

Plus there's an interesting gap: there were fewer people in the county aged 35 to 49 in 2013 than in 2010.

All told, there were a few more people—961,670 estimated as of July 2012 compared to 949,113 counted in the 2010 Census. 

The increase is accounted for by two facts: births outnumbered deaths, and influx was higher than outgo:  6,766 people left Westchester since April 1, 2010 to go somewhere else in the U.S.A., while 10,666 people arrived from outside the country. 

Westchester differed from the rest of the country in the rate of growth of Asians and Hispanics, however.

Asians were the fastest-growing race or ethnic group in the United States in 2012 nationwide. "Their population rose by 530,000, or 2.9 percent, in the preceding year, to 18.9 million, according to Census Bureau annual population estimates," the press release said.

"… By comparison, the Hispanic population grew by 2.2 percent, or more than 1.1 million, to just over 53 million in 2012…Hispanics remain our nation's second largest race or ethnic group (behind non-Hispanic whites), representing about 17 percent of the total population," the bureau said.

"Asians and Hispanics have long been among our nation's fastest-growing race or ethnic groups," noted Thomas Mesenbourg, the Census Bureau's acting director.

In Westchester, the Asian population grew faster: by 6.9 percent. Still it is a small portion of the county as a whole. The last Census counted 60,679 Asians,  6.4 percent of the total population. In 2012, the bureau estimated, the Asian population had risen to 64,847—but that's still just  6.7 percent.

The Hispanic population in Westchester grew by only one percentage point: from 21.8 percent to 22.8 percent. In July 2012, the number of residents of Hispanic origin was 219,719, the Census Bureau estimates. The total number of Hispanic-origin residents on April 1 2010 in Westchester was  207,032. 

Westchester does mirror the country in one other thing: a gender gap. Nationwide, women outnumbered men in 40 states as of July 1, 2012.  

In Westchester, according to the 2012 population report, there were 463,701 men and 497,969 women in the county.

Read more about the 2012 Population Report by clicking here.