Final Census Estimates Of The 90s

Show A More Diverse State

By Diane Scarponi

Associated Press

The end of the 1990s brings a Connecticut that is less white and more ethnically diverse than 10 years ago, the last census estimates for the decade show.

The estimates also suggest Connecticut has not gained back all the people it lost during the economic recession of the mid-90s, although the population is on the rise again.

These estimates will be eclipsed by 2000 census figures that are scheduled to be released in December.

The projections released Wednesday offer some snapshots on the estimated 3,282,031 people who call the Nutmeg State home:

Fairfield County has edged out Hartford County over the past 10 years as the most populous region of the state.

Windham and Tolland counties remain the least-settled.

Hispanics are poised to overtake black, non-Hispanic residents as the biggest minority group in Connecticut.

The Asian population is estimated to have increased 60 percent over the decade.

Litchfield County is home to the fewest non-white residents; Fairfield has the most.

Leaders of minority groups said they are eager to see the real numbers from the census that was taken this spring and summer. Community groups and the census actively encouraged minority participation in the survey, which was criticized for undercounting minorities in 1990.

“It was more organized than previous efforts, but we don’t know how effective it’s been,” said Fernando Betancourt, executive director of the state Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission.

James Slaughter, the head of the state African-American Affairs Commission, also said there was heightened awareness of the census this time around, but it remained to be seen what the actual numbers would show.

“We certainly want to see if the Census Department – by having these second and third checkbacks this time to homes – whether that’s going to help cut down on some of the undercount and how we deal with the issue of homelessness this time around,” Mr Slaughter said.

Mr Slaughter and Mr Betancourt predicted Hispanics would surpass non-Hispanic blacks in Connecticut soon, possibly affecting the realignment of political districts.

According to the 1999 census estimates, this change may already be at hand because the Hispanic population is growing at a faster rate than the non-Hispanic black population. Hispanics can be of any race, and some people consider themselves to belong to more than one census group.

By looking at people who identified themselves as Hispanic or not, the census projected that there were only about 3,700 more non-Hispanic blacks than Hispanic blacks, whites, Asians, or Indians in the state in 1999.

Population growth since 1990 was estimated to have increased about 8 percent for non-Hispanic blacks and about 30 percent for Hispanic blacks, whites, Asians, and Indians.

“It has so many implications – for local funding, federal funding, about where there’s a concentration of Latinos and the redistricting,” Mr Betancourt said. “The new configuration affects how many Latinos will maybe be in higher office.”

Overall, the largest group by far remains non-Hispanic whites, with an estimated population of 2.6 million.

The white population, however, is the only subgroup to have lost members over the past 10 years. The 1990 census recorded 2.7 million whites in Connecticut.

The fastest-growing racial group in the state were non-Hispanic Asians. The census estimated there were 80,405 Asians in the state in 1999, up from 49,776 a decade ago.

The non-Hispanic American Indian population was projected to have increased 150 members, to 6,119.

Estimates By County

Connecticut 1999 population estimates, by county, and change from 1990:

Fairfield: 841,334, up 13,387

Hartford: 829,671, down 22,157

Litchfield: 182,399, up 7,907

Middlesex: 151,461, up 7,995

New Haven: 793,208, down 11,385

New London: 246,049, down 9,122

Tolland: 132,668, up 3,777

Windham: 105,241, up 2,573