Census Bureau Releases New Data On Racial Groups In Mentor

The U.S. Census Bureau released more detailed statistics for Ohio from the 2010 Census, including new data for racial groups in Mentor.

The bureau says the new data offers a "new layer of detail" to the population and housing data released last year as part of the decennial population study.

The new data even drills down into city data, giving communities like Mentor a window into how different racial groups are living within our communities.

The Census data is a massive trove of information, so the plan here is to highlight some interesting facts gleamed from the data.

1. Mentor is still a predominantly white community but its diversity is growing

According to the 2010 census, 45,404 of the 47,159 of the people who live in Mentor are white. That's 96 percent.

Any discussion of increased diversity in Mentor should begin with that disclaimer.

That having been said, the city's Asian, hispanic and black population all increased in the last 10 years.

There are 1,724 people who live in Mentor who identified themselves as black, hispanic or Asian.

Granted, that still only counts for four percent of the city's total population, but that's more than the 1,284 minority residents the city had in 2010.

It's also noteworthy that while the city lost more than 3,000 white residents in the last decade, the number of blacks, hispanics and Asians all went up.

2. Minority populations are younger

We've already talked about how Mentor's median age has .

However, the minority populations in Mentor are noticeably younger.

About 20.5 percent of the white people living in Mentor are 17 or younger. For blacks, that number is 26 percent; 23.6 percent for Asians; and 38 percent for hispanics.

3. Asians have largest families; whites have smallest families

The average family size in Mentor is just under three, meaning the typical family structure in Mentor is a husband, wife and one kid.

But the Census data shows that Mentor's Asian population has the largest average family size at 3.46 people.

By comparison, black families average 3.28 members; hispanics, 3.25; and whites, 2.93

4. Whites have highest home ownership rate; blacks and hispanics have lowest

If you live in Mentor, chances are you own your home. Eighty-six percent of Mentor residents live in a home that either they or a household member own.

But homeownership rates vary based on race.

About 88 percent of white households own their own home. Asian households were closest behind, percentage-wise, with 504 of 646 households owning their own home, or about 78 percent.

Black and hispanic households were the least likely to own their own homes, dipping beneath the national average of about 65 percent.

About 50 of black households live in a home they own, while the hispanic rate is about 49 percent.

5. Minorities are still a small group in Mentor

We've talked about growing minority populations and how minorities are younger and have bigger families in Mentor.

However, all of that talk does not obscure the fact that only four percent of the people who live in Mentor are either black, hispanic or Asian.

Mentor's two largest racial minorities, Asians and hispanics, still only account for 1.4 and 1.3 percent, respectively, of the city's population.