Elk Grove a 'Majority-Minority' City, New Census Data Show

The Elk Grove of today is a much larger and more ethnically diverse place than a decade ago, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau Tuesday. Those facts may come as no surprise to those who have watched the city evolve over the last ten years, but observers now have the numbers to prove it.

Elk Grove’s population more than doubled between 2000 and 2010, from 59,984 to 153,015, according to the numbers from the 2010 Census.  Meanwhile, the city’s black, Asian and Latino populations more than tripled. The largest gain came among the city’s Asian residents, who saw their numbers increase from 10,553 to 40,261.

The numbers also indicate that Elk Grove is now a so-called majority-minority city, with white residents making up less than half of the population. While whites composed 59 percent of the city’s population in 2000, only 46 percent of residents selected ‘white alone’ as their race in 2010.

Complicating the numbers is the fact that Elk Grove has officially incorporated as a city since the last census. While the area designated by the Census Bureau as Elk Grove in 2000 overlaps with the city's current boundaries, the footprint is not exactly the same.

City spokesperson Christine Brainerd said some of Elk Grove’s rapid rise in population could be attributed to the city’s 2003 annexation of the Laguna West neighborhood, which added thousands of households.

While earlier state estimates placed the city’s population at over 140,000, Brainerd said crossing the 150,000 threshold is significant because the city could receive more funding from state and federal grants and transportation taxes, all of which are based at least in part on population size.

“Overall, we’re hopeful the new population figures will attract new business and high-quality employers for Elk Grove’s workforce and additional funding to better serve the community,” she said.

Elk Grove’s growth last decade far outpaced that of California as a whole. The state’s population increased by 10 percent over the decade, from 33.9 million to 37.3 million.

Below are some raw numbers from the Census Bureau, also available via their website.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau