More Hawaii Residents White, Born in U.S. Than 10 Years Ago
01/18/2011
Flickr: Keo 101
Hawaii is still by far the most diverse state in the country, but recent trends show the islands inching toward the U.S. mainland in race, citizenship and language.
The percentage of Hawaii citizens who identify themselves only as white rose from 24.1 percent in the 2000 Census to 26.9 percent in the American Community Survey conducted between 2005 and 2009, Civil Beat found. At the same time, the percentage of those identifying as at least part-Asian dropped from 67.2 percent to 55 percent and the percentage identifying as at least part-Pacific Islander dipped from 24.4 percent to 23.1 percent.
The proportion of Caucasians went up in 92 of 131 towns across the state.1 In Haliimaile, Maui, the rate nearly tripled, going from 10.2 percent 10 years ago to 30.2 percent in the survey. Seven different towns are now more than three-quarters white, surpassing the national mark of 74.5 percent. The top five are all on neighbor islands, which have a dramatically higher proportion of whites than Honolulu.
