CENSUS | BROWARD COUNTY
Broward population falls as whites leave
New Census figures show Broward's population is shrinking because some white non-Hispanics are leaving.
Posted on Thu, Aug. 07, 2008
BY BREANNE GILPATRICK AND TRENTON DANIEL
The loss of white non-Hispanics is causing Broward's population to shrink.
In a report being released Thursday, the Census Bureau showed Broward's population fell by about 13,100 -- 0.75 percent -- between 2006 and 2007, the largest loss statewide and Broward's first drop in population since 2000. Miami-Dade's population jumped slightly -- about 0.45 percent.
Four other Florida counties also lost population for the first time since 2000.
The data are part of the Census Bureau's annual release of estimates on the population of counties nationally. The figures are broken down according to age, race, Hispanic origin, sex and population growth from 2000 to 2007.
Perhaps no surprise, demographers cited the Sunshine State's high cost of living and bleak housing market as twin culprits for the population decline. In Broward, the loss of white non-Hispanics doesn't appear to have been compensated by other groups.
''This is clearly a reaction to the housing crisis,'' said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, the number of people in Miami-Dade County rose by about 0.45 percent since 2006 -- a jump of a little more than 10,800 people. Palm Beach County's population remained steady.
One retired couple put their Sunrise home on the market two years ago. They were eager for a radical change in scenery and lifestyle. In June, the longtime South Floridians settled in Ocala.
''We decided to come up and see where everybody was going. When we got up here in Ocala it was absolutely beautiful,'' said William Sorrells, 65, a retired Broward County employee. ``The economy is certainly a lot -- what should I say? How do I say it nicely? -- it's not as nearly expensive as it is down there.''
But even as the population in Broward dipped, a growing number of the county's Hispanics helped offset the overall drop in population, and Broward maintained its status as a majority-minority county for the second year in a row.
The number of Hispanic residents rose by about 9,200, an increase of about 2.3 percent between 2006 and 2007. Of those, about 7,900 were white Hispanics.
At the same time, the county's white non-Hispanic populations fell below 50 percent in 2006 and dropped even lower last year.
The number of white non-Hispanics has been falling in Broward since 2005. But in the past, those drops have been canceled out by increases in blacks and Hispanics.
One demographer speculated that Broward's population change could stem from an aging out of its eldest population -- white non-Hispanics, the result of a large wave of retirement in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. There were approximately 15,000 deaths in Broward between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007.
That combined with the possibility of fewer births among white non-Hispanics, which would result in a negative net natural growth for that group, or when more people die than are born.
''It's part of the explanation,'' said Richard Ogburn, assistant to the director of research and budget at the South Florida Regional Planning Council.
One demographer explained Broward's population drop this possible way: Native-born whites and blacks -- as opposed to immigrants -- could leave Florida with relative ease because of extended family and contacts outside of the state.
''They have broader networks around the country,'' Frey said.
However, with 1.76 million people, Broward still has about 137,000 more people than it did in 2000.
Miami-Dade County still ranks among the nation's top counties for highest percentage of minorities -- with roughly 82 percent of its residents identifying as such in 2007. Only the Bronx in New York City has a higher percentage of minorities.
''At some point, we'll stop thinking of Hispanics as a minority and understand that in Miami-Dade County they are certainly a majority,'' Ogburn said.
The number of white non-Hispanics in Miami-Dade also continued to drop, falling about 1.4 percent between 2006 and 2007.
However, unlike Broward, the number of black non-Hispanics in Miami-Dade also fell slightly between 2006 and 2007, dropping by about 1 percent, or roughly 4,600 residents.
One single mother who lived in East Kendall left in October.
The reason: ''Coming too close to foreclosure on my house too many times,'' said Maud Henrys, 51, from Haiti. ``It all just became too unaffordable.''
These days, Henrys is working as a nursery photographer in Cary, N.C., with four of her five children. She said she knows six other families who are recent transplants from South Florida, including her best friend.
''We really love it,'' Henrys said. ``I've saved thousands of dollars. Car insurance is 50 percent less. It was a no-brainer for me.''
However, the drop in non-Hispanic blacks and whites was more than offset by the growing number of Hispanic residents, where the population rose by more than 21,100 -- or by 1.5 percent -- during that same period.
The median age continued to inch upward in South Florida.
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