Census: Asians remain fastest-growing racial group in US

WASHINGTON (AP) — Asians remain the fastest-growing racial group in the United States, according to new information from the Census Bureau.

The nation's Asian population grew at 3.4 percent between July 2014 and 2015, with migration responsible for the majority of the growth, government officials said today. There are now 21 million Asians in the United States, with Hawaii as the nation's only majority Asian state.

Sam Garrow, a Census Department demographer, said Asians have been the fastest-growing race group since about 2000, and the main driving force is international migration. In 2013, China replaced Mexico as the top-sending country for immigrants to the United States, officials said.

Other minority groups grew as well. The Hispanic population grew by 2.2 percent to 56.6 million, and New Mexico had the largest percentage of Hispanics in the country at 48 percent. The African-American population grew by 1.3 percent to 46.3 million, with Mississippi holding the nation's largest percentage at 38.3 percent. And the American Indian and Alaska native population grew 1.5 percent to a total of 6.6 million, with Alaska having the largest percent at 19.5 percent.

California has the largest number of most racial and ethnic groups, with more Hispanics, whites, Asians and American Indians than any other state. New York state has more blacks than any other state, and Hawaii has the largest numeric population of Native Hawaiians than any other state.