‘The Big Apple just got bigger’
Brooklyn’s population increases by over 230k in 2020 Census results
BY BEN BRACHFELD
Brooklyn’s population increased
by over 230,000 people
in the past decade, marking
the biggest increase of any
borough in New York City, and
far outpacing expectations, according
to newly released 2020
Census data.
Kings County’s population
now stands at 2,736,074 people
— a 9.2 percent jump from the
2010 population of 2,504,700 as
recorded in that year’s Census.
Brooklyn remains the most
populous borough in the city,
which overall saw its population
swell by about 630,000 people,
to a historic high of 8.8 million
people.
Brooklyn’s growth is both
the largest numerical and proportional
population increase
for any of the fi ve boroughs.
Moreover, Kings County’s head
count grew at a signifi cantly
higher rate than statisticians
forecasted, as a 2019 estimate
by the Census Bureau pegged
Brooklyn’s population as
2,559,903, representing a much
smaller increase of 2.2 percent.
Brooklyn’s 2020 population
is just shy of its historic high,
which was set in 1950 when the
population was 2,738,175.
The borough and the city
outpaced both the state and the
nation in population growth
over the last decade, Census
statistics show. City offi cials
were quick to credit both policies
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implemented in the last decade
and the city’s robust Census
outreach effort aimed at
producing an accurate count,
which has major implications
for federal funding.
“The Big Apple just got bigger,”
Mayor Bill de Blasio said
on Twitter. “The new US Census
Bureau data shows New
York City grew to 8.8 million
New Yorkers, and we love every
single one of you (yes, even
YOU)! This is what happens
when you invest in pre-K for
all, safe streets and working
families.”
“It’s not easy counting 8.8
million people,” Hizzoner continued.
“From our census outreach
teams, to NYC Planning,
to every City worker who made
this record-breaking count
possible: thank you. This number
will ensure our city gets
the federal resources we need
to keep moving forward.”
Brooklyn remains one
of the most diverse counties
in the country, but its demographics
are changing, the
data show. Most striking is the
fact that Brooklyn’s Black population
has declined substantially
in the past decade: the
non-Hispanic Black population
dropped by nearly 70,000, from
799,066 to 729,696, going from
31.9 percent of the borough’s
population to 26.7.
Despite that, African-Americans
remain the second-largest
demographic group in the
borough, after white people.
The borough’s non-Hispanic
white population increased
from 893,306 to 968,427. Hispanic
and Latino Brooklynites,
the third largest demographic
group, saw their numbers increase
in the borough as well,
from 496,285 to 516,426. Both
whites and Latinos, however,
saw their demographic proportions
decrease slightly: whites
declined from 35.7 to 35.4 percent,
and Latinos declined
from 19.8 to 18.9 percent.
While still the fourth largest
demographic group in the
borough, the Asian population
in Brooklyn increased substantially
in the past decade:
Asian Brooklynites now number
at 373,680, a 42.5 percent, or
111,404 person, increase from
the 2010 population of 262,276.
Percentage-wise, the population
of Brooklyn is now 13.7
percent Asian, up from 10.5
percent in 2010.
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