Ho-Hum Response to Latest US 2010 Census Data

The US Census Bureau has been releasing demographic "profiles" of each state (including an interactive map), with information from the 2010 census about counties and larger cities and areas in each state. Thus far, however, the press has been generally uninterested. This is partly due to the fact that the data are pretty basic (total counts by age and sex, ethnicity, household structure). The other problem is that reporters are always looking for something new, rather than confirmation of what might already have been suspected from the American Community Survey. So it was that the New York Times found a genuine surprise in these profiles of the boroughs of New York City:

The latest details from the 2010 census suggest that Manhattan has become a more attractive place for younger people — it was the only borough to register gains in both children under 5 and in its 15-to-34-year-old population. “It suggests an attraction to Manhattan for parents who can afford to live there,” said William H. Frey, a demographer for the Brookings Institution.

This may also be related to the high rate of immigration into Manhattan, but we will have to wait until this summer, when more detailed data come out, to test that hypothesis. On the subject of immigration, the census data also show that the Mexico-origin population is also increasing in New York City:

The number of Mexican residents soared by more than 132,000, or 71 percent, to nearly 320,000; that makes them 14 percent of the Hispanic population, up from 9 percent. There were 2.3 million Hispanic people in the city last year, an increase of 175,000, according to the census.