County data in Chapter 1 to Chapter 3 for this report come from the 1990 decennial census SF-1 file. The 2000 data are from the U.S. Census Bureau’s population estimates, April 1, 2000, base for the vintage 2009 county population estimates. These may differ slightly from the 2000 decennial census counts because of post-enumeration corrections. The 2007 data come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s county intercensal estimates (2000-2010), available here at the Census Bureau’s website. The 2014 county estimates are from the U.S. Census Bureau’s county population estimates, vintage 2014, found at http://www.census.gov/popest/data/counties/asrh/2014/index.html.

Chapter 2 includes characteristics of the Hispanic population (including nativity and English proficiency) in selected counties where the Hispanic growth rate exceeds the nation’s median Hispanic growth rate. These counties are referred to as fast-growing. Detailed population characteristics at the county level are from the 2010 to 2014 American Community Survey 5-year file obtained via American FactFinder.

The state and metropolitan area level analysis in Chapters 4 and 5 are based on the 2014 American Community Survey. The ACS microdata files developed by the University of Minnesota Population Center, or IPUMS files, were utilized. Documentation of the IPUMS version of the microdata files is available at https://usa.ipums.org/usa/.

Figures throughout the report have been rounded to the nearest thousand.