Denver’s status as a nonwhite-majority city was a bit premature, but new census estimates show that day is probably near.
Two years ago, the U.S. Census Bureau put the non-Hispanic white population of Denver at 49.9 percent of the city’s total 2002 population. It appeared that for the first time minorities – Hispanics, Asians, blacks and others – outnumbered white residents who aren’t Hispanic.
But now that 2002 figures have been adjusted, it looks like that threshold wasn’t crossed. And it still hadn’t been crossed by 2004, say the new estimates.
Non-Hispanic whites constituted a slim majority – 50.2 percent – of the 556,835 residents of Denver in 2004, down from 52.4 percent in 2000, the Census Bureau says.
The population is counted once a decade. In between, census estimates are based on vital statistics, internal migration numbers gleaned from tax records and international migration numbers calculated from a model.
The 2002 estimates issued in 2003 were based on preliminary data, said Census Bureau demographer Matthew Christenson. The adjusted numbers were based on more “complete data.”
While the Hispanic population has surged, Denver planner Phil Plienis said it’s also reasonable to assume that non-Hispanic whites account for many of the new residents of the Lowry, Stapleton and Central Platte Valley developments.
Figuring out when Denver officially becomes a nonwhite-majority city will be guesswork as the population continues to shift, he predicted.
“It’s like trying to balance a teeter-totter,” Plienis said. “You’re right there at the fulcrum. A little bit of wind one way or another moves it.”
– Jeffrey A. Roberts
