.....New census estimates to be released today show there were 114,700 Iowans who said they were of Hispanic or Latino origin as of July 1, 2006.
That's a 39 percent increase just since 2000, and a demonstration of how the Hispanic population is fanning out across the nation far beyond the U.S.-Mexico border........
.....According to the new census estimates, Iowa is 91 percent white, compared with 92.8 percent in 2000, said Beth Henning, Iowa state data center coordinator and a census expert.....
.....Even as Iowa becomes more diverse, it's also aging.
That's not a new trend, but there is one interesting development this decade: The number of Iowa children under 5 has actually increased since 2000, from 188,143 to 192,055 in 2006.
Nonetheless, the median Iowan age in the new census estimates was 37.8 years, compared with 36.6 years in 2000.
There's a big gap between the sexes, with Iowa men at a median 36.4 years of age and women at a median 39.4 years.
Henning said 14.6 percent of Iowans are over 65. That ranks fourth in the nation, tied with Maine and North Dakota. Florida has the highest percentage of residents over 65, at 16.8 percent.
Iowa ranked No. 3 in the nation for those over 85 years of age, at 2.5 percent. Only Florida and North Dakota ranked higher, at 2.6 percent.
The number of Iowa children under 18 has declined since 2000, from 733,638 to 710,194.
Henning, looking back over birth records, said there was a dip in births during the 1990s.
This is why it's important to find ways to keep youth in Iowa. Iowa ranks 4th in the nations in people over 65 (by 2.2%), and 3rd for people over 85 (by only 0.1%). Meanwhile, the number of people under 18 has declined since 2000 by 23,444, whereas the number of children under 5 has increased only by 3,912. Iowa is already slated to loose a US Congressional seat when the lines are redrawn, and at this rate, we will loose more.
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