Greater Bridgeport area more diverse, older
Greater Bridgeport and its surrounding areas grew more diverse and older over the last decade, according to data released from the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday.
Regionally, the white population decreased from 2010 to 2020, with a median decrease of 10 percent among towns in the Bridgeport area. The data resembles statewide trends where white residents, though they still make up nearly three-quarters of the population, also decreased by 10 percent.
Meanwhile municipal leaders
across the region pointed to increases in Hispanic and multiracial populations, and more modest gains among Black residents.
Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti did not seem surprised by the local changes. “Ansonia’s always had a diverse community,” he said.
The city’s Hispanic population increased by roughly 40 percent — from 3,212 in 2010 to 4,493 in 2020, according to the data.
Cassetti said a third of the city’s more than 19,000 residents are Latino, and he’s made a conscious effort to assemble staff in the public works and mayor’s offices that reflect Ansonia’s demographics.
Overall the Hispanic population in the greater Bridgeport region grew from 2010 to 2020, led by Easton, where it roughly doubled over the last decade from 220 people to 444.
Another area of growth in the region was among residents who identified as multiracial, with Easton, Oxford and Trumbull seeing the largest percent increases.
Milford’s multiracial population rose from 644 in 2010 to 1,811 in 2020.
Mayor Ben Blake said Milford is becoming something of a “worldly metropolis.
“Milford is a place that people are flocking to,” he said. “It is more and more diverse... (There are) more languages spoken in our school system than ever before.”
The census data represents a moment in time and measures where people lived on April 1, 2020. The numbers were subject to change in the past 16 months, especially as the pandemic and work-from-home orders had many Connecticut residents, and people from other states, re-evaluate where they wanted to live.
In Bridgeport, the Hispanic and multiracial populations grew by about 11 and 90 percent, respectively.
“Bridgeport has been and continues to be a huge melting pot,” said Rowena White, the city’s director of communications. “That’s one of the things we’re proudest of — our diversity.”
She added that the city has built more housing in recent years, as well as added professional opportunities, and entertainment and arts that make the Park City an attractive place to live for everyone.
But White said the census figures are an undercount, which she attributed in part to a lack of targeted outreach and advertising at the federal level.
“Those numbers and those people who they left out are the most vulnerable,” said White. “If you’re a refugee, or you’re looking for bilingual experiences or educational opportunities, those are the folks we’re supposed to be fighting for.”
The 2020 census was also taken against a backdrop of legal disputes and controversies, including former president Donald Trump’s push for a question on immigration status that advocates worried could lead to undercounts.
The census data also showed the region’s population is growing older. The largest drops in children under 18 were in Shelton, Milford and Oxford.
Shelton’s population under 18 years old decreased from 8,338 in 2010 to 7,130 in 2020, according to the data.
“That’s not new,” said Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti.
He said the city public school system has seen decreased enrollment “that’s not insignificant” for at least a decade.
And on the flip side, Lauretti said Shelton has had an influx of residents ages 55 and older from Westchester and Fairfield County for the last 15 years.
Alongside demographic changes, the census data also showed that among greater Bridgeport municipalities, Fairfield, Shelton and the Park City itself saw the biggest increases in population in the past decade.