Native American population on the rise in U.S.

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Native American population on the rise in U.S.
Friday, August 12, 2005

More than 4.4 million people in the United States claim Native American heritage, the U.S. Census Bureau reported on Thursday.

The figure represents a 7.3 percent increase from just four years ago. In 2000, the Census Bureau reported that 4.1 million people claimed American Indian or Alaska Native ancestry.

Both numbers represent double-digit growth in the Native population from 1990, when the last national count was conducted. This was due to better reporting and an increase in population, but also to a change in the Census that allowed people to claim more than one racial or ethnic heritage.

When the data is limited to single race, the number of American Indians and Alaska Native drops to about 2.8 million, or less than 1 percent of the entire U.S. population.

The numbers reported yesterday, however, are based on single- and multiple-race responses. This put the Native proportion at 1.5 percent of the total U.S. population.

As of July 2004, California had the largest American Indian and Alaska Native population. According to the Census, 687,400 Native Americans live in the Golden State. There are over 100 federally recognized tribes in California.

Oklahoma came in a distant second, with 398,200 Native Americans. The state is home to almost 40 federally recognized tribes.

Arizona (234,200), Texas (248,300) and New Mexico (207,400) rounded out the top five. New York (183,400), Washington (165,400), North Carolina (142,000), Florida (140,600) and Michigan (124,100) completed the top 10.

Alaska was not far behind, though, with a Native population of 123,700. Of all the states, Alaska had the highest proportion, 18.9 percent,

Going by proportion, Oklahoma ranked second, with 11.3 percent claiming Native heritage. New Mexico was a close third with 10.9 percent.

Rounding out the top five were South Dakota (9.4 percent) and Montana (7.5 percent). North Dakota (5.8 percent), Arizona (5.6 percent), Wyoming (3.1 percent), Washington (4.8 percent) and Oregon (2.5 percent) made the top 10.

The District of Columbia was the loneliest place for Native Americans, according to the Census. Only 4,700 lived in the nation's capital as of July 2004, the lowest in the U.S. Vermont (6,200), Delaware (6,600) and New Hampshire (8,200) were also ranked at the bottom of the list.

The Census Bureau also broke down the results by counties with populations of at least 1 million. Not surprisingly, Los Angeles County had the largest Native American population, with 153,500 living there.

Maricopa County, Arizona, which includes the city of Phoenix and several tribes, ranked second with a Native population of 91,500. The county also registered the largest numerical increase between 2003 and 2004, according to the Census.

Other counties with a large Native population include San Diego County (49,400), San Bernardino County (43,900), Orange County (41,500) and Riverside County (39,800). All these counties are located in California and are home to a number of tribes.

Top 10 States, Native American Population, Combined Race:

State	July 2004	July 2003	Increase
California (HTML \| Excel)	687,366	684,459	0.4%
Oklahoma (HTML \| Excel)	398,242	397,169	0.3%
Arizona (HTML \| Excel)	322,235	315,861	2.0%
Texas (HTML \| Excel)	248,339	243,813	1.9%
New Mexico (HTML \| Excel)	207,374	204,716	1.3%
New York (HTML \| Excel)	183,442	183,371	0.04%
Washington (HTML \| Excel)	165,373	164,011	0.8%
North Carolina (HTML \| Excel)	141,953	139,572	1.7%
Florida (HTML \| Excel)	140,558	135,295	3.9%
Michigan (HTML \| Excel)	124,092	124,368	-0.2%