The Hispanic population of Humboldt Park fell by 4% in the past decade, dropping from 31,607 to 30,337, according to new Census data. But due to a steeper rate of decline in the community area’s total population, Hispanics actually became the majority demographic in Humboldt Park, rising from 48% in 2000 to 52.5% in 2009.
Chalk up the shift from plurality to majority to an out-migration of Humboldt Park’s black residents during the same period. In 2000, Humboldt Park’s black population was 31,207, or 47.4% of the total population (almost equal to the Hispanic population at the time). Over the decade, the black population dropped by 23.8% to 23,766 people, or 41.1% of the total population in 2009.
The white population rose 30.1% between 2000 and 2009. At the start of the decade, there were 2,184 white residents in Humboldt Park, or 3.3% of the total population; by 2009, there were 2,841, or 4.9% of the total population.
As we’ve noted in the past, Humboldt Park the community area (to which these numbers apply) doesn’t exactly correspond to Humboldt Park the neighborhood, which spreads into the parts of West Town just west of Wicker Park and Ukrainian Village. (I think I can single out these census tracts elsewhere — if so, I’ll post my findings for them later on.) And it’s also important to note that even in Humboldt Park’s case, “Hispanic” doesn’t simply mean “Puerto Rican” — as of 2000, the community area’s Hispanic population actually consisted of more Mexicans than Puerto Ricans.
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