Census data shows Hispanics as the largest minority in N.J.

Hispanics are now the biggest minority in New Jersey, making up nearly 18 percent of the state’s population, according to new census data.

As detailed in an article in the Star-Ledger, there were about 1.5 million Hispanics in the state last year, when the decennial census was conducted. In 2000, Hispanics accounted for roughly 13 percent of the state’s population.

The article went on to catalogue decreaseses in the white population of New Jersey in the past decade, while there was a rise in the number of residents identifying themselves as African-American or Asian.