Seismic shifts in national population trends have already occurred which completely redefines the profile of the US consumer. Today there are 49.7 million US Hispanics as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau which includes illegal immigrants. Of which, there are 15 million illegal immigrants here in the US, Latino and non Latino alike. 1 This brief inquiry highlights recent population trends exposed within The State of Metropolitan America. On The Front Lines of Demographic Transformation 2010 by the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings. The State of Metropolitan America is the primary source unless otherwise cited. The focus is towards newly released or previously not commonly mentioned population trends in interest of brevity. By definition, 84% of Americans live in Metropolitan Areas defined as a statistical concept join cities and their suburbs together to form local and regional markets.

The two most interesting findings are: 1) the under-18 population is already majority-minority in large metro areas, 2) the nation already being 1/3 rd non-white. Actually the former already happened two years ago, as under-18 youth already reached majority non-white status in large metropolitan areas by ’08. This coming-of-age generation – of which nearly one quarter of U.S. children have at least 1 immigrant parent – is slated to carry us towards a majority non-white nation by 2042 and children by 2023.

As for the latter, today the nation is 1/3 rd non-white which accounts for 83% of the population growth in the United States from ’00 – ’08.

What may be overlooked is the degree of these two primary changes during ’00 – ‘08. In the case of non-white population growth, or lack thereof, only 12 out of 100 primary cities posted gains in share of population that is white. Furthermore, whites accounted for only 17% of the national population growth while their total numbers increased by only 2%. Meanwhile, during the same time period, ’00 – ’08, the Hispanic population increased by 31% and accounted for 51.6% of % change population growth.

Isolating Hispanic, non Hispanic and national population growth, between ’00 – ’09 the Hispanic population increased 35.3% vs. 4.9% for the non-Hispanic population and 8.8% gain across the total population. 2

Beyond youth as majority-minority phenomena, drilling down to a very desirable target among marketers - married couples with kids; they are more likely to be found by share of household among Hispanics (31%) vs. Whites (20%) as stated in Metropolitan America.

As to immigration trends among Latinos in the US, Brookings responded directly during their live chat, May 19 th ’10 (subset):

Additionally as reported by Metropolitan America, the Latino population is increasingly located in Metro Areas collectively known as Next Frontier, Diverse Giant and Border Growth. This is particularly insightful to marketers concerned with Latino population trends beyond the top Hispanic DMA’s.

Power goes hand in hand with increasing population numbers, in this case earning power. Hispanic buying power will reach $1.3 trillion, representing 10.2% of total buying power. 3 The IAB Hispanic Research Working Group, sourcing the Selig Center for Economic Growth, summarized the main drivers which include a young market, rise in entrepreneurial activity, and higher levels of educational attainment. 4 Additionally, as reported in Metropolitan America, the notable longitudinal success and potential of Hispanic Buying Power occurred during a decline of $2,241 change of inflation-adjusted U.S. real median household income, 1999 – 2008.

Be a Smart Marketer by understanding the impact and degree of national population trends. The Internet is the most measurable and targetable medium. There are now 27,469,000 unique Hispanic Internet Users according to comScore during May ’10. If the Hispanic population would be a country, it would be ranked 12 th among countries worldwide ranked by Internet Users in between Canada (23.1M Internet Users) & Turkey (21.9M Internet Users) referencing the chart below.

Terra has been catering to the multicultural, multilingual cybernaut for decades by now. For example, along the country theme, World Cup ’10 begins Friday June 9 th and fully covered by Terra in Spanish, English and Portuguese languages.

Terra wishes all World Cup teams and fans good luck during Copa 2010.

Terra would also like to thank Brookings for their excellent piece, State of Metropolitan America, which be definition provides endless insight to marketers targeting our core audience, US Hispanics. Due to the sake of time, only a few items were highlighted here in comparison to the full report.

Sources:

1.) Sources: Projections of the Hispanic Population (Any Race) by Age and Sex for the United States: 2010 to 2050, Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau, Aug 08. Undocumented source: The Kauffman Foundation, PBS Nightly Business Report, Jun 03 ‘10

2.) The Multicultural Economy 2009. Selig Center for Economic Growth. Terry College of Business. The University of Georgia. Third Quarter ‘09

3.) The Multicultural Economy 2009. Selig Center for Economic Growth. Terry College of Business. The University of Georgia. Third Quarter ‘09

4.) US Latinos Online: a driving force. IAB Hispanic Research Working Group. May 5 th ’10. Page 8

By Natasha Funk

Published:  June 2010