Hispanics outnumber whites in California ---

California's Hispanic population now outnumbers the white population, U.S. Census data shows, marking a long-predicted shift in the country's most populous state. Figures released recently by the Census Bureau show that there are 15 million Hispanics in the state compared with 14.9 million non-Hispanic whites.

Demographers expected Hispanics to become the largest ethnic group in the state in 2013, but a slower growth rate than forecast delayed the historic turning point in California’s racial mix. The state's demographics indicate that Hispanics will represent 49 percent of California's population by 2060.

Another historic sign of the demographic shift is in education. For the second year in a row, the University of California (UC) admitted more Hispanic students than white students. Hispanic children are already a majority of students in public schools. Hispanics represented 30 percent of all California freshmen admitted to UC, compared to 25 percent for white students, 4 percent for black students and 36 percent for Asian students.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, non-Hispanic Whites are the single largest group (42%) followed by Asians (24%) and Hispanics (21%). Asians and Hispanics are driving most of the population growth in the Bay Area and will continue to do so over the next several decades.

San Mateo, Marin, Alameda and Contra Costa counties are expected to have the most growth in the Hispanic population. Over the past decade, the Bay Area’s Hispanic population grew rapidly – 28 percent – adding 206,000 residents. The Hispanic population is predominately of Mexican ancestry (69%), though a significant proportion are of Salvadoran ancestry (9%).

In California, the median age of Hispanic residents was 29 years old, much lower than the median age of 45 years old for non-Hispanic whites, Census data showed.

Of the state’s 15 million Hispanics, Los Angeles County is home to five million, which is very close to fifty percent of the county’s total population.

Demographers and state officials have predicted for years that California Hispanics would begin to outnumber the white population for the first time since statehood between 2014 and 2015. The Hispanic population is expected to be nearly double that of non-Hispanic whites in the state by 2060.

According to the Census Bureau, there are four U.S. states where non-white minorities are in the majority: Hawaii, where minorities represent 77 percent of the population; California with 61.5 percent, New Mexico with 61.1 percent and Texas with 56.5 percent.

The shift makes California the third U.S. state to not have a white plurality, following New Mexico with its large Hispanic population and the predominantly Asian Hawaii.

The trend is occurring alongside nationwide growth in the Hispanic population, which increased to about 17 percent of the total population as of last July, from around 12.5 percent in 2000, according to U.S. Census figures.

The number of Hispanics in the United States currently stands at about 55.4 million and California and Los Angeles County have the largest percentages of Hispanics of any state or county, respectively.