Rural Hispanic Trends

This is a very interesting and useful analysis of how Hispanics living and working in rural areas are faring. In short, not particularly well.

Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing minority group in the U.S. Until now, their presence has been mostly an urban phenomenon, as roughly 90 percent of all Hispanics reside in metropolitan (metro) areas. For the first time, however, the nonmetro Hispanic population is increasing in number throughout many rural regions of the Nation. This new demographic pattern is the result of changes in immigration laws and stricter border crossing enforcement during the 1990s, which induced many Hispanic immigrants to extend their stays in the U.S.

Hispanic population growth and settlement have visible economic and social effects on rural areas and small towns and have garnered considerable media and public policy attention. Many rural communities have sought ways to integrate their newest residents. What does the presence of a growing population of low-income minority residents mean for the social, economic, and political future of rural America?

During the 1990s, nonmetro Hispanic population growth more than doubled from the previous decade and far outpaced that of all other nonmetro residents. Hispanics made up less than 5 percent of nonmetro residents in 1990, but they accounted for over 25 percent of all nonmetro population growth from 1990 to 2000. Despite their concentration in the Southwest, half of all nonmetro Hispanics now live outside the Southwest. Moreover, rural Hispanics in the Midwest, Southeast, and Northwest, though small in number, are growing far more rapidly than all other racial and ethnic groups.

Although Hispanic employment in high-growth nonmetro counties is still concentrated in agricultural work, recent data show occupational diversity and mobility. Hispanics in many nonmetro counties are often employed in large numbers in specific rural industries, such as textile manufacturing jobs in Georgia and poultry processing jobs throughout the Southeast. Nonmetro Hispanics make up the majority of farmworkers, but the share of nonmetro Hispanics employed in agricultural industries fell from 17 percent in 1990 to about 11 percent in 2000. In contrast, the share of nonmetro Hispanics in sales, services, and manufacturing occupations increased over the decade. By 2000, 17 percent of nonmetro Hispanics were employed in general service jobs, 14 percent in precision production jobs, 11 percent as machine operators, 11 percent as farmworkers, and 10 percent as handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers.

More here.