 National Association of Counties * Washington, DC / Vol. 30, No. 14 * July 20, 1998 
Last year President Clinton announced his Race Initiative and asked all Americans to participate in conversations on race. He said that he wanted the nation's races all to come together as One America. A close examination of out-migration and in-migration patterns during the last decade reveals interesting data about the counties with the most diverse populations. These are the counties where One America can be the most successful. The population growth patterns from 1990 to 1996 show distinct growth in different parts of the country for different racial groups. Most ethnic growth occurs in and around major metro areas. This is the reason that major concentrations of Hispanics and Asians are generally located in these areas, while the black population and white population are more widely distributed geographically. The largest Hispanic growth in the country has been in the California counties of Los Angeles and San Francisco. Los Angeles County ranks first in total growth and is the home of one-fifth of the total Hispanic population. Miami-Dade County, Fla., New York City and Cook County, Ill. are major metro areas that experienced growth in Hispanic population. Clark County, Nev. experienced major growth because of its active job market despite the fact that it is not a major urban metropolitan area. Asian population increases have mirrored the Hispanic increases in major metro areas. Los Angeles and San Francisco counties and New York City have attracted nearly 40 percent of the growing Asian population since 1990. Nearly 43 percent of the U.S. Asian population live in these three areas. Washington, D.C.; Harris County, Texas; King County, Wash.; and the Dallas-Ft. Worth area have also experienced increases in the number of Asian immigrants. Three-fourths of the Asian population live in the top 20 metropolitan areas. American's black population is concentrated in Northeast urban areas and in the South. The greatest growth in black population was in the Atlanta-Fulton County, Ga. area, followed closely by Harris County, Texas (Houston); Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas; Wake County (Raleigh) and Durham County, N.C. and the Mecklenburg County (Charlotte), N.C. area. The new growth in these areas is due to the migration of many blacks back to the "New South." Black population growth in the northern urban areas of New York City, Cook County, Ill. and Philadelphia, Pa. is due largely to a natural growth of the existing resident black population and not new residents. White growth has very different dynamics. The biggest gain in white population is currently in the Southeast, Texas and the mountainous states near California. Other increases in white population show that people are following job growth, especially in high-tech and information-related industries. Fulton County, Ga.; Hennepin County, Minn.; King County, Wash.; Tarrant County, Texas and Travis County, Texas have experienced this new growth in white population. Construction and service jobs have also attracted more whites to Clark County, Nev. (Las Vegas) and Orange County, Fla. (Orlando). The increase in the cost of living and competition from low-skilled immigrant populations has lead to the out-migration of many whites from the same major metro areas that are attracting Asians and Hispanics. The three largest white population losses were experienced in New York City, Los Angeles County and San Francisco County, Calif., the same areas that showed the greatest increases for Asians and Hispanics. In the May 25 edition of Research News, we asked counties to send us their annual reports. Any county who sent an annual report was entered in a random drawing to win a NACo goody bag. We would like to thank the 18 counties who responded to our request and we are pleased to announce that the city/county consolidated government of Baton Rouge/East Baton Rouge Parish, La. is the winner. (Research News was written by Jacqueline Byers, research director.) Top Areas of Population Increase 1990 to 1996 Rank/Hispanic Population Black Population Asian Population White Population
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'Diversity'
Clusters in South, West