America will no longer be a majority white country by 2042, according to new government projections that forecast a large increase in the percentage of Hispanic Americans. The U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday released population projections through 2050, based on rates for births, deaths and immigration. The figures, while subject to big revisions, project a small rise in the black population, a large rise in the Hispanic population and a fall in the percentage of white Americans. “The white population is older and very much centered around the aging baby boomers who are well past their high fertility years,” William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, told the Associated Press. “The future of America is epitomized by the young people today. They are basically the melting pot we are going to see in the future,” he said. White non-Hispanics currently make up about two-thirds of the U.S. population, but only 55 percent of those younger than 5. By 2050, whites will make up 46 percent of the population and blacks will make up 15 percent, a relatively small increase from today, the new data showed. Hispanics, who make up about 15 percent of the population today, will account for 30 percent in 2050, according to the new projections. Asians, which make up about 5 percent of the population, are projected to increase to 9 percent by 2050. The U.S. has nearly 305 million people today. The population is projected to hit 400 million in 2039 and 439 million in 2050. The population 85 and older is projected to more than triple by 2050, to 19 million.
