Population. All population figures are from the Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. 20233, 301-457-3030. Figures for 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000 are final Census Bureau population counts as of April 1 of those years. (The District of Columbia is included as a state in all the following charts.)

Voting Age Population. This figure indicates all persons at least 18 years of age who are eligible to vote, including the Armed Forces, aliens and institutional members.

Chart I shows the total U.S. population and total U.S. voting age population for 2000, 1990, 1980 and 1970.

Chart I
Total U.S. Population			Total U.S. Voting Age Population
April 1, 2000	281,421,906		April 1, 2000	209,128,094
April 1, 1990	248,709,873		April 1, 1990	185,105,441
April 1, 1980	226,545,805		April 1, 1980	163,997,000
April 1, 1970	203,302,031		April 1, 1970	135,290,000

Chart II indicates the range of highest and lowest state population changes in percentage growth and absolute change for 1990-2000.

Chart II
1990-2000 Population Change
(National Avg.: up 13.2%)
State	Highest			State	Lowest
Nevada	66.3%	796,424		District of Columbia	-5.7%	-34,841
Arizona	40.0%	1,465,404		North Dakota	0.5%	3,400
Colorado	30.6%	1,006,867		West Virginia	0.8%	14,867
Utah	29.6%	510,319		Pennsylvania	3.4%	399,411
Idaho	28.5%	287,204		Connecticut	3.6%	118,449
Georgia	26.4%	1,708,237		Maine	3.8%	46,995
Florida	23.5%	3,044,452		Rhode Island	4.5%	44,855
Texas	22.8%	3,865,310		Ohio	4.7%	506,025
North Carolina	21.4%	1,420,676		Iowa	5.4%	149,569
Washington	21.1%	1,027,429		New York	5.5%	986,002
				Massachusetts	5.5%	332,672

Chart III shows the ten highest and the ten lowest state populations.

Chart III
2000 U.S. Population: Ten Highest and Lowest States
State	Highest		State	Lowest
California	33,871,648		Wyoming	493,782
Texas	20,851,820		District of Columbia	572,059
New York	18,976,457		Vermont	608,827
Florida	15,982,378		Alaska	626,932
Illinois	12,419,293		North Dakota	642,200
Pennsylvania	12,281,054		South Dakota	754,844
Ohio	11,353,140		Delaware	783,600
Michigan	9,938,444		Montana	902,195
New Jersey	8,414,350		Rhode Island	1,048,319
Georgia	8,186,453		Hawaii	1,211,537

Chart IV shows the states with the highest and lowest average unemployment rates for 2000. These figures are from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and were compiled independently of the Census Bureau figures.

Chart IV
2000 Average Unemployment Rate
(National Avg.: 4.0%)
State	Highest		State	Lowest
Alaska	6.6		Virginia	2.2
District of Columbia	5.8		Connecticut	2.3
Mississippi	5.7		South Dakota	2.3
Louisiana	5.5		Iowa	2.6
West Virginia	5.5		Massachusetts	2.6
Washington	5.2		Colorado	2.7
California	4.9		New Hampshire	2.8
Idaho	4.9		Vermont	2.9
Montana	4.9		Nebraska	3.0
New Mexico	4.9		North Dakota	3.0
Oregon	4.9		Oklahoma	3.0

Ethnic Breakdown. The racial and ethnic breakdowns illustrate the potential ethnic vote as opposed to the overall population. The concepts of race and ethnicity as defined by the Census Bureau reflect self-identification and not clear-cut biological definitions. The following statistics are drawn from respondents reporting only one race category.

Chart V lists voting age and total state population figures for the seventeen states with black populations above the national average of 12.3% in 2000. Black ethnic classification refers to those persons who indicated their race as Black on the Census questionnaire.

Chart V
2000 Black Population: Total State Population
State	% of voting age pop.		% of total state pop.	State		% of voting age pop.	% of total state pop.
District of Columbia	56.2%		60.0%	Delaware		17.6%	19.2%
Mississippi	33.1%		36.3%	Tennessee		14.8%	16.4%
Louisiana	29.7%		32.5%	New York		14.8%	15.9%
South Carolina	27.2%		29.5%	Arkansas		13.9%	15.7%
Georgia	26.6%		28.7%	Illinois		13.8%	15.1%
Maryland	26.4%		27.9%	Florida		12.7%	14.6%
Alabama	24.0%		26.0%	Michigan		13.1%	14.2%
North Carolina	20.0%		21.6%	New Jersey		12.6%	13.6%
Virginia	18.4%		19.6%

Chart VI illustrates voting age and total state population figures for the nine states with Hispanic origin concentrations above the national average of 12.5% in 2000. The Hispanic origin classification includes three specific categories-Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban-as well as those who indicated that they were of other Spanish or Hispanic origin (origin can be viewed as ancestry, nationality group, lineage or country of birth of the person or the person's parents or ancestors prior to their arrival in the United States). Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.

Chart VI
2000 Hispanic Origin: Total State and Voting Age Population
State	% of voting age pop.		% of total state pop.	State		% of voting age pop.	% of total state pop.
New Mexico	38.7%		42.1%	Colorado		14.9%	17.1%
California	28.1%		32.4%	Florida		16.1%	16.8%
Texas	28.6%		32.0%	New York		13.8%	15.1%
Arizona	21.3%		25.3%	New Jersey		12.3%	13.3%
Nevada	16.7%		19.7%

Chart VII illustrates the voting age and total population figures for the seventeen states with American Indian concentrations above the national average of 0.9% in 2000. The American Indian classification includes persons who classified themselves as American Indian, Eskimo, or Aleut.

Chart VII
2000 American Indian: Total State and Voting Age Population
State	% of voting age pop.		% of total state pop.	State		% of voting age pop.	% of total state pop.
Alaska	13.8%		15.6%	Idaho		1.3%	1.4%
New Mexico	8.3%		9.5%	Nevada		1.2%	1.3%
South Dakota	6.2%		8.3%	Oregon		1.2%	1.3%
Oklahoma	6.8%		7.9%	Utah		1.2%	1.3%
Montana	5.1%		6.2%	North Carolina		1.1%	1.2%
Arizona	4.1%		5.0%	Minnesota		0.9%	1.1%
North Dakota	3.8%		4.9%	California		0.9%	1.0%
Wyoming	1.9%		2.3%	Colorado		1.0%	1.0%
Washington	1.4%		1.6%

Chart VIII illustrates the voting age and total state population figures for the ten states with Asian concentrations above the national average of 3.6% in 2000. The Asian classification includes persons who classified themselves as Asian.

Chart VIII
2000 Asian Origin: Total State and Voting Age Population
State	% of voting age pop.		% of total state pop.	State		% of voting age pop.	% of total state pop.
Hawaii	45.4%		41.6%	Nevada		4.8%	4.5%
California	11.5%		10.9%	Alaska		4.2%	4.0%
New Jersey	5.6%		5.7%	Maryland		4.1%	4.0%
Washington	5.6%		5.5%	Massachusetts		3.7%	3.8%
New York	5.7%		5.5%	Virginia		3.7%	3.7%

Chart IX illustrates the voting age and total state population figures for the seven states with Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander concentrations above the national average of 0.1% in 2000. The Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander classification includes persons who classified themselves as Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander.

Chart IX
2000 Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander Origin: Total State and Voting Age Population
State	% of voting age pop.		% of total state pop.	State		% of voting age pop.	% of total state pop.
Hawaii	8.3%		9.4%	Nevada		0.4%	0.4%
Utah	0.6%		0.7%	California		0.3%	0.3%
Alaska	0.4%		0.5%	Oregon		0.2%	0.2%
Washington	0.4%		0.4%

Chart X illustrates the Congressional Districts with the highest Black population percentage.

Chart X
2000 Black Population: By Congressional District
District	% of total state pop.		District	% of total state pop.
Mich.-14	79%		N.Y.-11	69%
Ill.-2	76%		La.-2	67%
Md.-7	75%		Tenn.-9	66%
Ill.-1	70%		Miss.-2	65%
Ala.-7	70%		Md.-4	65%
Mich.-15	70%		Ohio-11	65%

Chart XI illustrates the Congressional Districts with the highest Hispanic population percentage. The Hispanic origin classification includes three specific categories-Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban-as well as those who indicated that they were of other Spanish or Hispanic origin (origin can be viewed as ancestry, nationality group, lineage or country of birth of the person or the person's parents or ancestors prior to their arrival in the United States). Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.

Chart XI
2000 Hispanic Population: By Congressional District
District	% of total state population		District	% of total state population
Calif.-33	86%		Fla.-18	71%
Texas-15	79%		Texas-27	70%
Texas-16	78%		Ill.-4	70%
Fla.-21	78%		Texas-20	67%
Calif.-34	72%		Texas-23	66%

Chart XII illustrates the Congressional Districts with the highest American Indian population percentage. The American Indian classification includes persons who classified themselves as American Indian, Eskimo, or Aleut.

Chart XII
2000 American Indian Origin: By Congressional District
District	% of total state population		District	% of total state population
N.M-3	20%		N.C.-7	7%
Okla.-2	17%		Mont.-1	6%
Alaska-1	16%		N.D.-1	5%
Ariz.-6	16%		Okla.-1	5%
Okla.-3	11%		Okla.-4	5%
S.D.-1	8%		Okla.-6	5%

Chart XIII illustrates the Congressional Districts with the highest Asian population percentage.

Chart XIII
2000 Asian Origin: By Congressional District
District	% of total state population		District	% of total state population
Hawaii-1	53%		Calif.-16	27%
Hawaii-2	31%		Calif.-30	20%
Calif.-12	31%		Calif.-28	19%
Calif.-13	30%		Calif.-14	19%
Calif.-8	28%		N.Y.-5	19%
Calif.-31	28%