Tampa Bay area's Hispanic population is growing

The minority population in the Tampa Bay area grew tremendously in the past decade, with Hispanics leading the way, according to recently released census estimates.

The numbers, pegged to July 1, 2009, show the counties of West Central Florida became more diverse as they grew over the course of the last decade. In many cases, minority groups grew several times faster than the general population.

Historically, the Tampa Bay region has had the lowest proportion of minorities of any region in the state. For decades, the large number of retirees in the region helped make West Central Florida one of the whitest parts of the state, said demographer Stan Smith with the state's Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

That hasn't changed, but Hispanics and other minority groups have become a larger share of the population. Pasco had the largest growth in minorities in the whole state for the decade since the 2000 census -- 181 percent. Talking about the growth of the local Hispanic population, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties are up more than 50 percent, Pasco is up 164 percent, Polk up 102 percent.

That said, with the exception of Hillsborough County, where minorities account for nearly a quarter of the population, the counties from Citrus to Collier continue to have the fewest minorities of any other counties in Florida.

As of last year, for example, nonwhites made up about 9 percent of Pasco's population. Citrus County, with a 5 percent minority population, was Florida's whitest county in 2009 - a position Pasco held for much of the last decade.

Miami-Dade is the only Florida county where Hispanics make up a majority of the population - 62 percent. That proportion has stayed fairly stable since the 2000 census. A few other places, such as rural Hendry and Hardee counties, are approaching a population that's 50 percent Hispanic.