White population to become minority in US by 2050

New data has revealed that white Americans are set to become the minority in the US by 2050. Among the states leading this trend is the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. 

US Census Bureau figures cited by the New York Post revealed that the US is expected to drop to being 47 percent white by 2050 and 44 percent by 2060, down from 80 percent in 1980. The shift is fueled by migration and falling birth rates. 

By 2060, white people in the United States are expected to become the minority, or close to it, in 24 states. In the 2000 US Census, just three states had a white population that was under 50 percent: Hawaii, which has never been a majority-white state, California, and New Mexico.

In the 2020 Census, states that had an under 50 percent white population included: California (35 percent), Hawaii (22 percent), Maryland (47 percent), Nevada (46 percent), New Mexico (37 percent), and Texas (40 percent), with Georgia being at 50 percent.

Joining those states in 2030 are projected to be Florida and New Jersey, with Arizona and New York joining the other states in 2040. By 2060, additional states will also become majority or nearly majority non-white: Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington. 

The least ethnically diverse state was West Virginia, which is expected to drop by 2050 from 89 percent of the population being white, down to 86 percent.