The United States is becoming more racially diverse, and so is rural America. KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.

Recently, the US Census Bureau released more detailed information about the once-a-decade headcount and if you thought the US was becoming more racially diverse, you would be correct. While rural parts of the country have typically been less ethnically diverse, reporting from The Daily Yonder, using data compiled by the US Census shows that just over 25% of rural US residents are from a wide range of ethnically diverse groups.

Hispanics now make up 10.4% of rural US residents. That number grows to 18.7% nationwide. Though the greatest increases in rural diversity are in Asian, Native Hawaiian, or other Pacific Islanders, each of these groups experienced a double-digit gain in population over the last decade. Another takeaway from Census is the number of US residents that identified as multiracial, increasing 148% from the 2010 headcount. For 89 9 KRPS, I’m Fred Fletcher-Fierro