They number 3,687, 17.1 percent of Blaine County's total population. Their numbers increased 6.2 percent between 2006 and 2008, and since 2000 they increased by 81.6 percent. They are Blaine County's Hispanic residents, and they are part of a statewide boom in population growth and a significant demographic change.
According to figures provided by the Idaho Department of Labor, Idaho's two largest counties, Ada and Canyon, attracted 57 percent of overall Hispanic population growth in 2007.
Statewide, Hispanic population jumped 6 percent from 2006 to 2008, to more than 147,000, or nearly 10 percent of the total population.
Of those additional 8,300 Hispanics, 2,700 were in Canyon County, where the Hispanic population rose 7.7 percent, and 2,000 in Ada County, where the yearly increase was 8.9 percent.
"The Hispanic community provides a rich and diverse texture to our communities and way of life in Idaho," stated Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter in an address posted on the Web site for the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs. "As our state's largest ethnic group, Hispanics also are critically important to our continued success as a state."
The Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs was established by the Idaho Legislature in 1987 to raise awareness on Hispanic issues in Idaho.
Commission Executive Director Margie Gonzalez said that since 2003, her organization has put more emphasis on collecting data on Hispanic populations in Idaho.
"Every year we've put out a different report," she said. "We're pretty much on top of the growing changes and impacts."
Those impacts are occurring everywhere from the job market to schools, she said.
"No, the numbers aren't surprising," she said. "The increases in the different counties are really not too surprising because we still have the first and second generation, and they're just starting to settle into some of the smaller communities and counties."
Gonzalez said it is difficult to quantify the "undocumented population" of Hispanics in Idaho—those who arrived as illegal immigrants.
While Hispanic population growth was strong, according to Department of Labor statistics, 2007 also marked the first year since the 2000 census that the increase in Idaho's Hispanic population fell below the year-earlier number. The 8,300 increase in the Hispanic population in 2007 compared to an 8,900 increase in 2006.
Ada and Canyon counties were among only 13 of Idaho's 44 counties to see Hispanic population growth exceed the statewide rate in 2007. Canyon County has the most Hispanic residents, at 37,500, or 21 percent of the total population, and remained one of 17 counties where Hispanics make up more than 10 percent of the population.
Hispanics, top 10 population increase since 2000
County Population - % of total - % increase from 2006 - % increase from 2000
Valley 356 4.0 17.1 137.3
Adams 112 3.2 8.7 107.4
Ada 24,510 6.6 8.9 82
Blaine 3,687 17.1 6.2 81.6
Kootenai 4,566 3.4 6.5 80.6
Jerome 5,116 25.5 6.7 62.4
Teton 1,127 13.5 7.4 59.9
Bonner 944 2.3 5.2 56.3
Bonneville 8,881 9.2 7.5 55.7
Canyon 37,540 20.9 7.7 53.5
