DENVER (AP) -- The Census Bureau says Mexicans are becoming a larger part of Colorado's booming Hispanic population and their numbers are increasing in parts the state where the state is seeing some of the biggest growth.
Census officials say Colorado is 20.7 percent Hispanic. Of that number, the census data released Thursday show that 15.1 identified themselves as Mexican. In 2000, that number was 10.5 percent.
The Hispanic population's growth has been largely concentrated along the Front Range in the past. But state demographer Elizabeth Garner says jobs in the service industry, mining, and tourism is attracting more Hispanics to the Western Slope.
The census data out Thursday also provides new demographic information for the state, including housing occupancy rates, the percentage of married people, household size, and the state's median age.
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