Hispanics, minorities continue to boost Idaho’s economic growth

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: April 28, 2022
Media Contact: Craig.Shaul@labor.idaho.gov

The economic influence of Idaho’s minorities and Hispanic populations has continued to expand over the past 10 years and projections show it’s not likely to slow down.

Growth in buying power for nearly all cultures in Idaho outpaced the U.S. average, according to estimates provided by the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia. From 2010 to 2020, Idaho experienced some of the highest multicultural consumer growth in spending across all U.S. states. White people, Black people and American Indians ranked in the top five highest percent change of consumer spending over this time period. 

Chart: growth in consumer spending 2010 to 2020, Idaho and the U.S.

Per capita buying power from 2010 to 2020 increased for every culture in Idaho by more than 30%. Hispanics by far had the highest growth in per capita buying power across this timeframe, increasing by 65%.

From 1990 to 2020, the total buying power share for Idaho’s minorities – American Indian, Asian, Black and multiracial – grew from 1.9% to 4.8%. That share is projected to increase another 0.4 percentage points to 5.2% by 2025.

Graph: Idaho per capita buying power by race and ethnicity, 2020

From 2010 to 2020, Idaho’s Hispanic population ranked 15th nationwide in its share of total buying power in the state. The Hispanic market share of consumer spending is projected to increase 42% — from $6.4 million in 2020 to $9.1 million by 2025.

Buying power is the after-tax personal income people have to spend on virtually everything from necessities like food, clothing and housing to luxuries like recreation equipment and vacations. It does not include money borrowed or saved from previous years.

The top five spending categories across cultures is similar, with one-third of annual spending costs directed toward housing. Together, housing and transportation make up nearly half of typical consumer spending in the American household.

Idaho’s Hispanic population has seen rapid growth, from 5% of the state’s population in 1990 to a projected 14% by 2025. Minority races have grown from less than 30,000 in 1990 to over 150,000 in 2020, more than a five-fold increase and significantly outpacing the growth rate of Idaho’s white population. 

Read the full report on the Department of Labor website.

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