“The city and county grew 2010-2020 at rates greater than the overall growth rate of the state of Missouri. This suggests that Boone, CoMo is a destination that always attracts jobs, individuals and families, ”said Timothy Teddy, director of community development at Columbia.

Complete Census Bureau data will be released on September 30 and will be available on the bureau’s website at that time.

General census figures released in late August show that over the past decade, Boone County’s population has not only grown by around 12.9%, but also reflects greater ethnic and racial diversity. This is in part due to a change in the way the Census Bureau reported its data.

Multiracial reporting has increased, not only in Colombia, but across the country. For the 2020 census, the office highlighted all reported breeds. Previously, he only reported the first three races by the highest percentage.

The percentage of Boone County’s population identifying as lone white was 82.8% in 2010. Census data for 2020 shows that the lone white population has declined to 76.2%.

The new way of reporting diversity means that there has been an increase in the diversity index for Boone. Minority populations like African Americans, American Indians, and Alaska Natives have seen their populations increase over the past 10 years.

The Asian population alone has seen the biggest change: 4.3% in 2020 compared to 3.8% 10 years ago.

Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon knows how the data reflects the future direction of the community.

“It directly affects things like the allocation of money we receive from the federal government and the state government. And it helps describe the economic development and demographic trends in our county so that policymakers can make decisions based on the growth of our communities, ”said Lennon.

Nicholas Jones, director of Race Ethnicity Research and Outreach, Population Division at the Census Bureau, said these data comparisons between racial data from the 2020 Census and the 2010 Census should be made with caution due to the change in reporting methodology. .

In addition to the survey and coding changes, the question of how individuals perceive their own racial or ethnic identity is also a contributing factor, according to Missouri State Library statistical research consultant Cory Mihalik.

“This could be the result of societal and self-perception changes over the past decade. But that doesn’t mean that real changes in diversity haven’t happened, “he added.” It’s probably also, it’s just difficult at this point to analyze how far it is. it is about methodological, sociological and real changes in the population. reconcile.”

Jones confirmed that he has developed data tools that provide information on racial and ethnic diversity. One of those metrics, he said, is the diversity index.

It measures the likelihood that two randomly selected people are from different racial and ethnic groups. The diversity index score is maximized when all racial and ethnic groups are felt in the population and the groups are of equal size, he said.

As to why the population in general is diversifying, Jones cited a number of reasons: “Racial and ethnic differences in fertility, mortality, migration as well as trends in marriage and childbearing. family can influence the composition of the population, making it more diverse over time. “

“The 2020 census results reflect both improvements in the way we measure these concepts, as well as demographic changes over the past decade,” he said. “These multiple measures of racial and ethnic composition and diversity (…) allow us to explore the richness and complexity of our country’s population in a new light,” he said.

Citizens of Boone County can also see how recent census data is impacting their community.

Glenn Rice, programmer / analyst for the MU Center for Health Policy at the Missouri Census Data Center (MCDC), said the once-per-decade redistribution is done primarily to ensure that each district has an accurate demographic representation.

“In some municipalities, they like to have a nice and homogeneous mix of races and ethnicities in all neighborhoods in their city, so they could use this data to redesign their neighborhoods,” Rice said.

“In every race and ethnic category, the population has increased. It’s pretty normal,” Rice said.

“Probably what you are seeing is that the numbers for 2010 were higher than what they reported. In other words, in 2010 multiracial was underreported rather than in 2020 it was overreported. They’ve changed the way they count the multiracial, ”Rice said.

The pandemic has delayed the release of 2020 census data. In a normal census year, Lennon staff could expect to get census data by early summer.

This year, they only got it in August. With an election data filing deadline in February, Lennon and his team are on a tight schedule.

“That’s the unknown part of it right now. In 2010, the courts in Missouri ended up drawing most of the redistribution lines, which also added time. The unknown right now is the timeline, ”Lennon said.

If the state’s redistribution committee finds itself at an impasse, the district boundaries may again be drawn by the courts of Missouri.

Boone County also boasts of having the largest university in the state. This could be a possible reason that has led to the 13.1% increase in the population over 18 in the county over the past decade. At the state level, this increase was 4.6%.

Mihalik said it would also be interesting to look at total population changes in specific areas versus UM enrollment changes.

“The increase in the student body would be a major driver of population growth. Boone County did not appear to be as affected by the declining under-18 population as the rest of the state, ”he said.

Teddy also observed that there are more children here in 2020 than in 2010, and that the number of children in the state matters for future college and university enrollments.