American Community Survey Finds Smaller, More-Diverse Hopkins

Hopkins is a bit smaller than it once was but more diverse than ever. The city's black population has more than doubled in the past decade, more people in Hopkins are college graduates while, at the same time, poverty in the city has inched upward.

Those are among findings in the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, released Tuesday, marks the first time since the 2000 Census that demographic, economic, social and housing details are available for communities with fewer than 20,000 people. The latest survey covers the years 2005 to 2009.

Here is what the survey says about Hopkins:

A slightly smaller population: The most recent survey found 16,894 residents, compared to 17,145 in 2000.

A younger population: Unlike many places with aging populations, Hopkins got a bit more youthful. Its percentage of residents 65 or older dropped from 14.5 to 11.1 percent. Meanwhile, the under-18 crowd grew from 19.6 to 21.6 percent. The percentage of children younger than 5 grew particularly fast, jumping from 5.8 to 8 percent.

More diversity: Minority communities actually grew even as Hopkins' total population shrunk. The survey recorded 2,299 black residents compared to 890 in 2000–a jump from 5.2 to 13.6 percent of Hopkins' population. The trend likely reflects the growing Somali population. The Associated Press, which studied data nationally, reported that about one in three people with Somali ancestry live in Minnesota. The number of Asians in Hopkins grew about 50 percent, from 1,015 in 2000 to 1,515 now, representing 9 percent of the today's populace.

Not surprisingly, the percentage of whites has dropped, from 82.6 to 70.7 percent. What may be more surprising is a decline in the  number of Hispanics, from 949 in 2000 to 840 now.

The survey reflects reports from schools that show a growing numbers of students don't speak English. It found that 18.8 percent of residents speak a language other than English at home compared to 15.9 percent in 2000. About a quarter of those speak Spanish.

More educated: While, the percentage of residents with high school degrees remained virtually unchanged, from 91 to 91.8 percent, those with four-year college degrees climbed from 35 to 39.9 percent.

Poverty is worse: The latest survey shows 10.1 percent of individuals and 7.9 percent of families below the poverty level. In 2000, those figures were 9.3 percent of individuals and 8.1 percent of families.