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Numbers Don't Lie: The Changing Face Of Texas, In 2020 And Beyond

NPR and KERA spent Independence Week drilling deep into the Lone Star state, and the demographic revolution that's reshaping it, with the series Texas 2020.

But a story this big can't be contained to just one week, as data editor Matt Stiles proves today with an insightful blog post, Texas' Looming Hispanic Shift Explained, In Two Charts.

Stiles, himself an ex-Texan, crunches numbers provided by the state demographer, UT-San Antonio professor Lloyd Potter. And a couple of those numbers are eye-popping:

  • Hispanic 2-year-olds rule! -- Plenty has been written about how young the Latino population is in Texas. But one set of 2010 stats really stands out: There were more Hispanic 2-year-olds than any other age: 197,000. The most popular age for non-Hispanic whites was 50 years old -- and there were 192,000 of them.
  • 2023 is the big year -- Sure, the series is called Texas 2020. But a key point comes three years later -- that's when Hispanics will outnumber non-Hispanic whites.

All this gives us another chance to point out KERA's contribution to this national series: Shelley Kofler's look at one family's three-generation journey in North Texas aired amid the fireworks on July 4.

Rick Holter was KERA's vice president of news. He oversaw news coverage on all of KERA's platforms – radio, digital and television. Under his leadership, KERA News earned more than 200 local, regional and national awards, including the station's first two national Edward R. Murrow Awards. He and the KERA News staff were also part of NPR's Ebola-coverage team that won a George Foster Peabody Award, broadcasting's highest honor.