JARED MILLER Star-Tribune capital bureau | Posted: Friday, August 10, 2007 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - Growth in Wyoming's minority population is one factor in a slowing of the state's aging trend, officials say.
Minorities accounted for two-thirds of overall growth from 2000 to 2006, according to new U.S. Census Bureau figures.
Young Latinos especially are moving into the state to take jobs. Their average age is 10 years younger than the majority white population, said Wenlin Liu, senior economist with the state Department of Administration and Information.
Latino numbers increased by 12.8 percent between 2000 and 2006, to a total population of 35,729 in July of last year.
Wyoming's total minority population reached more than 61,000 in July 2006, an increase of about 7,700 since 2000, or 14.4 percent, Census figures show.
All other races, including blacks, American Indians, Asians and mixed races recorded at least double-digit growth, while the majority non-Hispanic white population grew by only 3.1 percent.
However, minorities still make up less than 12 percent of the state's population, the ninth lowest in the country.
Another factor in Wyoming's aging slowdown is an increase in children - especially preschool aged - for the first time in many years.
The number of births in 2005, 7,231, was the highest since 1987, Liu said.
"The number of births has increased significantly since 2001, at 18.2 percent," Liu said.
In the long term, it's unlikely that the state's new residents will completely halt the trend toward a grayer Wyoming for several reasons, Liu said.
* Rural areas across the nation are losing young people, especially the educated, to urban centers. The energy boom has slowed that pace here, giving the state an advantage over other rural areas, but it hasn't ended the outflow completely.
* Any slowdown in new energy-related jobs will mean fewer young people moving into the state. Liu said employment data already seem to indicate some slowdown from last year.
* The population of baby boomers in Wyoming is 2 to 3 percent larger than the nation as a whole. That's because some of the many boomers who moved here to take abundant energy-industry jobs in the 1970s and '80s stayed.
* Areas of the state that lack energy development continue to experience the speedy aging trend. Counties such as Hot Springs, Niobrara and Platte struggle to hold onto their young people.
"Due to the lack of job opportunities and versatility in those areas, plus the lifestyle attractions from larger cities and towns, the young population, particularly well educated, continued to migrate out," Liu said.
One factor not expected to contribute much to the aging trend is retirees moving to the state.
Liu said the idea that Wyoming is becoming a haven for city folk seeking the country life after retirement doesn't check out in the numbers.
Some communities, such as Cody, Sheridan and Buffalo, are consistently attracting retirees, but the state as a whole is not.
"That's a misimpression," Liu said. "Overall, we don't really attract a net migration for populations 65 and older."
Reach capital bureau reporter Jared Miller at (307) 632-1244 or at jared.miller@casperstartribune.net.