The 2020 U.S. Census showed that Harris County mirrored national and state trends in demographic changes, including a decrease in residents identifying only as white.
Census data showed the county’s total population increased by just over 600,000 in the past decade, for a population of over 4.7 million.
The county saw a 25.8% decrease in the population identifying as white alone. Harris County is now in the bottom 10 among Texas counties in terms of white alone as a percentage of its total population, ranked 248th out of 254 counties statewide, according to Census data.
Harris County’s Asian population, which makes up 7.4% of its total population, is ranked 6th in the state and in the top 100 nationwide for percentages of its total population. Census data shows the county is also ranked 16th in the state for its Black and African-American population as a percentage of its total population.
The county saw increases to its population of Hispanic or Latino origin, with that demographic making up 43% of the population. Harris County is ranked 75th in the state in terms of its Hispanic or Latino population as a percentage of its total population, and 79th in terms of that demographic’s increase from 2010 as a percentage.
Statewide, major metropolitan areas across Texas were among the fastest growing in the nation over the past decade, with five of the 14 cities that grew by more than 100,000 in the last 10 years coming from Texas, according to Census data.
