NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665

December 2, 1999

N.D. Population Slowly Changing Due to Minorities' Growth

North Dakota's Asian population rose 51.1 percent between 1990 and 1998, although Asians currently represent only about 0.8 percent of North Dakota's total population. People of Hispanic origin, currently comprising 1 percent of the North Dakota's population, rose 50.8 percent during the same period, according to the latest Population Bulletin released from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University.

Between 1990 and 1998, the state's black population, comprising less than 1 percent of the total, rose 13 percent, and the Native American population, comprising 4.7 percent of total population, rose 16.5 percent, says Richard Rathge, data center director. In 1998, whites comprised roughly 94 percent of total population, a drop of 1 percent from 1990.

"While representing the smallest numeric categories in North Dakota, elderly black and Asian populations had the largest percentage gains between 1990 and 1998," Rathge says. "Both increases were significantly greater than 150 percent because of the relatively few people involved."

The number of elderly blacks age 65 and older grew from 28 in 1990 to 83 in 1998, Rathge says. Similarly, the jump among Asians in this age category was from 65 to 172 during the same time period.

The greatest increases in minorities tended to be in the larger cities and reservation areas of North Dakota. Rathge says the air bases at Grand Forks and Minot accounted for a significant proportion of the growing black population in the state while Fargo and Grand Forks were major draws for the increasing Asian population.

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Source: Richard Rathge (701) 231-8621
Editor: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136

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