And Finally Small Ethnic Populations Around Oneida County

I have been posting tract level maps of the region showing their small ethnic populations - these exclude the big five: Italian, German, English, Polish and Irish. Around 80% of people living in Oneida County identify themselves as being either Irish, Italian, German, Polish or English.

Instead these are the next most popular ethnicities/ancestries identified by people within each census tract. Generally speaking these are very small groups of people - typically somewhere between 50 and 500 people. So these ethnicities or ancestries identified on the maps below are small pockets of of people who maintain an identification with less familiar backgrounds.

When looking at the maps beware of a couple of things. The exact locations of the people claiming to be "Canadian" in a tract, for example, is unknown. The placement of the label is purely a matter of convenience, not an indication of where any group specifically lives. Second, the size of the type is used to suggest the relative size of the populations in each group. Larger type size equals more people.

So take a look at your area, r4ecognize that most of the people that live there are probably one of the Big Five (Italian, Irish, German, Polish or English), but that there are other groups living in your community who may have a considerably different background than you have ! Click to enlarge the map.

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Rome Small Ethnic Populations By Tracts

Recently I posted about small ethnic populations in Herkimer County and in the City of Utica. Here now is a similar look at the same issue in Rome.

These are not the major ethnic groups that dominate the county population. Around 80% of people living in Oneida County identify themselves as being either Irish, Italian, German, Polish or English. Instead these are the next most popular ethnicities/ancestries identified by people within each census tract. Generally speaking these are very small groups of people - typically somewhere between 50 and 2500 people. So these ethnicities or ancestries identified on the maps below are small pockets of of people who maintain an identification with less familiar backgrounds.

When looking at the maps beware of a couple of things. The exact locations of the people claiming to be "Canadian" in a tract, for example, is unknown. The placement of the label is purely a matter of convenience, not an indication of where any group specifically lives. Second, the size of the type is used to suggest the relative size of the populations in each group. Larger type size equals more people.

So take a look at your area, r4ecognize that most of the people that live there are probably one of the Big Five (Italian, Irish, German, Polish or English), but that there are other groups living in your community who may have a considerably different background than you have ! Click to enlarge the map.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Small Ethnic Populations in Utica and the Surrounding Area

Below is a map of Greater Utica area. the map is laid out to help identify small ethnic populations within census tracts within the City of Utica. These are not the major ethnic groups that dominate the county population. Around 80% of people living in Oneida County identify themselves as being either Irish, Italian, German, Polish or English.

Instead these are the next most popular ethnicities/ancestries identified by people within each census tract. Generally speaking these are very small groups of people - typically somewhere between 50 and 2500 people. So these ethnicities or ancestries identified on the maps below are small pockets of of people who maintain an identification with less familiar backgrounds.

When looking at the maps beware of a couple of things. The exact locations of the people claiming to be "Canadian" in a tract, for example, is unknown. The placement of the label is purely a matter of convenience, not an indication of where any group specifically lives. Second, the size of the type is used to suggest the relative size of the populations in each group. Larger type size equals more people.

So take a look at your area, r4ecognize that most of the people that live there are probably one of the Big Five (Italian, Irish, German, Polish or English), but that there are other groups living in your community who may have a considerably different background than you have ! Click to enlarge the map.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Small Ethnic Populations By Census Tracts In Herkimer

Below are two maps of Herkimer County. Each helps identify small ethnic populations within census tracts within the census tracts of the county. These are not the major ethnic groups that dominate the county population. Around 80% of people living in Herkimer County identify themselves as being either Irish, Italian, German, Polish or English.

Instead these are the next most popular ethnicities/ancestries identified by people within each census tract. Generally speaking these are very small groups of people - typically somewhere between 50 and 350 people. So these ethnicities or ancestries identified on the maps below are small pockets of of people who maintain an identification with less familiar backgrounds.

When looking at the maps beware of a couple of things. The exact locations of the people claiming to be "Canadian" in a tract, for example, is unknown. The placement of the label is purely a matter of convenience, not an indication of where any group specifically lives. Second, the size of the type is used to suggest the relative size of the populations in each group. Larger type size equals more people.

So take a look at your area, r4ecognize that most of the people that live there are probably one of the Big Five (Italian, Irish, German, Polish or English), but that there are other groups living in your community who may have a considerably different background than you have !

County-wide Tracts

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Valley and Village Tracts

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The New Us: Portrait of a Changing America

The Atlantic Magazine recently reviewed a new report by PEW Research which provides a portrait of some very significant demographic and cultural shifts in the United States. The report is filled with fascinating details about who we are as Americans, what we believe, and how both of those things have changed over the last several decades.

As they point out, "Demographic transformations are dramas in slow motion. America is in the midst of two right now. Our population is becoming majority non-white at the same time a record share is going gray. Each of these shifts would by itself be the defining demographic story of its era. The fact that both are unfolding simultaneously has generated big generation gaps that will put stress on our politics, families, pocketbooks, entitlement programs and social cohesion."

Here's is one of their graphics about minority population changes in the past 50 years, as well as its projected growth for the next fifty.

 To see how Utica and Rome minority populations have changed since 1980, visit this blog's MAPS page ! The minority population maps are near the bottom.

Top Five Ancestries in Herkimer and Oneida Counties: 1980 to 2010

Ancestry is a relatively new question within the Census. The ancestry question was added to the census form in 1980, so the data concerning ancestry is about 30 years old at best. Ancestry can refer to a person’s ethnic origin or descent, their "roots" or heritage, or the place of birth of the person or the person’s parents or ancestors before their arrival in the United States. Some ethnic identities, such as "German" or "Jamaican," can be traced to geographic areas outside the United States, while other ethnicities such as "Pennsylvania Dutch" or "Cajun" evolved in the United States.Some obviously may refer to a specific country (Polish), while others may be more regional in concept (Arab).

The intent of the ancestry question is not to measure the degree of attachment a respondent has to a particular ethnicity. Rather it is intended to give people a chance to describe their self-identity with any particular heritage if they feel they have one. So, for example, a response of "Irish" might reflect total involvement in an "Irish" community. On the other hand it may reflect only a memory of ancestors several generations removed from the individual. A person’s ancestry is not necessarily the same as his or her place of birth; i.e., not all people of German ancestry were born in Germany (in fact, most were not).

And of course, some people prefer to identify their ancestry as American. This could be because their ancestors have been in United States for so long or they have such mixed backgrounds that they do not identify with any particular group. Some foreign born or children of the foreign born may report American to show that they are part of American society. There are many reasons people may report their ancestors as American, and the growth in this response has been substantial.

All that being said, so what do Herkimer and Oneida Counties ancestry data look like ? Well below you can see the Top Five Ancestries for each county since the question was introduced in 1980. Note how some ancestral  identities have declined while others have risen. And in Herkimer County, one ancestry dropped out of the Top 5 altogether.

Top Five Ancestries in Herkimer County

Herkimer County (Click to Enlarge)

 

Top Five Ancestries in Oneida County

Oneida County (Click to Enlarge)

 

Census 2010: Racial and Hispanic Breakdowns Within Regional Municipalities

One of the pieces of data generated by the decennial census done in 2010 was information on the racial and ethnic composition of our population. Below is a table showing the breakdowns for some of the race categories, as well as the Hispanic population counts, for each town or city in the region. Please note that race does NOT include the category of "Hispanic". Being Hispanic is considered an ethnicity within the census data, and thus is measured and reported independently of race.

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