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People reporting more than one race in Census 2000 were more likely to be under 18 than those reporting only one race -- 42 percent compared with 25 percent, a new analysis released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau shows.

The Census Bureau report also found that 40 percent of the Two or more races population lived in the West and about 1-in-3 were of Hispanic origin. (People of Hispanic origin may be of any race.)

One in a series of Census 2000 briefs, The Two or More Races Population: 2000, showed that 6.8 million people, or 2.4 percent of the total population, reported more than one race in the census. It was the first census that allowed individuals to self-identify with more than one race.

Other highlights:

By region

• Of all people who reported more than one race in Census 2000, 40 percent lived in the West, 27 percent in the South, 18 percent in the Northeast and 15 percent in the Midwest.
• The West also had the highest proportion of its population reporting more than one race. In the West, 4.3 percent of all respondents reported more than one race, compared with 2.3 percent in the Northeast, 1.8 percent in the South and 1.6 percent in the Midwest.

By state

• Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of all people who reported more than one race lived in just 10 states: California, New York, Texas, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Washington, Michigan, and Ohio. These states contained 49 percent of the total population.
• California (1.6 million) was the only state with a Two or more races population greater than 1 million. It was followed by New York (590,000) and Texas (515,000). These three states accounted for 40 percent of the total Two or more races population.
• There were 14 states where the population reporting more than one race exceeded the U.S. rate of 2.4 percent. Hawaii ranked highest (21 percent). It was followed at a distance by Alaska (5.4 percent), California (4.7 percent) and Oklahoma (4.5 percent).

By county

• Four counties in Hawaii had between 19 percent and 29 percent of their populations reporting more than one race, while no other county in the U.S. exceeded 12 percent. The majority of counties in Hawaii, Alaska and California, as well as counties in eastern Oklahoma, had much higher proportions reporting more than one race than the U.S. level of 2.4 percent.
• Higher proportions of people reporting more than one race also were concentrated in metropolitan counties along the New England and Mid-Atlantic coast.
• Counties with lower percentages reporting more than one race were likely to be in nonmetropolitan counties in the Midwest and South.

By place

• New York City, with nearly 400,000, and Los Angeles, with nearly 200,000, had the largest number of people reporting more than one race. These places are the two largest in the country. Four other places (Chicago, Houston, San Diego and Honolulu) had Two or more races populations greater than 50,000.
• Among places of 100,000 or more population, the highest proportion of the Two or more races population was in Honolulu, with 15 percent. But, places with populations between 100,000 and 200,000 tended to have higher proportions of more than one race reporting than places with populations greater than 200,000.

A listing of released and forthcoming Census 2000 briefs can be found on the Census Bureau's Web site at www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs.html, including briefs on topics such as race, Hispanic origin, gender and housing.