Indiana's growing child population unique in Midwest

INDIANAPOLIS — As Indiana gets older, a population boom among Hispanic, Asian and black youth has made it the only Midwestern state with a growing number of children.

New census figures released Thursday show the number of whites 17 and younger in Indiana fell by 95,000 from 2000 to 2010, but the minority child population rose by nearly 130,000.

Indiana Business Research Center demographer Matt Kinghorn says the child population grew by 78,000 among Hispanics, 26,000 for multi-race children, nearly 13,000 for blacks and nearly 12,000 for Asians.

Indiana's median age moved higher as the baby boom generation grows older. Indiana's median age increased from 35.2 years to 37.0 over the past decade. That's lower than Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio and slightly higher than Illinois.