Majority minority in the United States

In the United States of America, majority-minority area or minority-majority area is a term describing a U.S. state or jurisdiction whose population is composed of less than 50% non-Hispanic whites. It is defined as a population with a collective majority of nationwide minorities, meaning a grouping of racial and ethnic groups (other than the national majority) that composes over 50% of the territorial population, regardless if one of those minority groups already attains a majority on its own. No single minority is yet the majority in any state, with the closest to that end being Hispanics in New Mexico (49% of the total population as of the 2020 census). As such, all majority-minority states do not have a single ethnic or racial group as the outright majority.

Racial data is derived from self-identification questions on the U.S. census and on U.S. Census Bureau estimates. (See race and ethnicity in the United States census). The term is often used in voting rights law to designate voting districts that are designed under the Voting Rights Act to enable ethnic or language minorities "the opportunity to elect their candidate of choice."^[1] In that context, the term was first used by the Supreme Court in 1977.^[2] The Court had previously used the term in employment discrimination and labor relations cases.^[3]

• Seven states are majority-minority: Hawaii, New Mexico, California, Texas, Nevada,^[4][5][6] Maryland,^[7] and Georgia.^[8] Hawaii has never had a white non-Hispanic majority^[9] although per the 2020 U.S. Census, Asians (at 36.5%), non-Hispanics whites (at 21.6%), and those of mixed race (at 20.0%), have surpassed native Polynesians (its historic majority group, at 10.2%) in the population (see list of U.S. states and territories by race/ethnicity).
• Washington, D.C., and all populated United States territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa) are also majority-minority. None of the current United States territories ever had a white non-Hispanic majority.
• As of 2011, minority births (children under age 1) are the majority among births nationwide.^[10]
• As of 2017, minority children comprise the majority among children in fourteen states: the six that are already majority-minority, plus the following eight: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Delaware, Alaska, New York, and Mississippi.^[11]
• As of 2019, children are majority minority nationwide.^[12]
• Per the 2020 United States Census, the percentage of non-Hispanic white residents is below 60% in seventeen states: the six that are already majority-minority, plus the following eleven: Georgia (50.1%), Florida (51.5%), New Jersey (51.9%), New York (52.5%), Arizona (53.4%), Mississippi (55.4%), Louisiana (55.8%), Alaska (57.5%), Illinois (58.3%), Delaware (58.6%), and Virginia (58.6%).^[13] Per the 2022 American Community Survey, the non-Hispanic white population declined below 50% in Georgia (49.63%);^[14] and per the 2023 American Community Survey, the non-Hispanic white population declined below 60% in North Carolina (59.75%).^[15]
• The whole United States of America is projected to become majority-minority by the middle of the 21st century if current trends continue. The U.S. will then become the first major post-industrial society in the world where the dominant group established in an earlier period transitioned from majority to minority under the influence of changing demographics.^[16] With alternate immigration scenarios, the whole United States is projected to become majority-minority sometime between 2041 and 2046 (depending on the amount of net immigration into the U.S., birth/death rates, and intermarriage rates over the preceding years).^[17][18][19]