Census Figures: Puerto Ricans Gaining in Polk

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Published: Thursday, May 5, 2011 at 12:38 a.m.Last Modified: Thursday, May 5, 2011 at 12:38 a.m.

LAKELAND | North Lakeland may some day be known as Little San Juan.

The number of Polk County residents of Puerto Rican heritage surged between 2000 and 2010, according to newly released U.S. Census Bureau figures. Though residents of Mexican ancestry still dominate the county's Hispanic population, Puerto Ricans are closing the gap.

Among Polk's 602,095 residents, nearly 35,000, were identified in 2010 as having Puerto Rican origins. That marked a 224 percent increase from 2000.

Overall, people who identified themselves as Latino or Hispanic accounted for 17.7 percent of Polk's population in 2010, up from 9.5 percent a decade earlier. That total of 106,532 made Hispanics the largest minority in Polk County.

The population with Mexican ancestry numbered 45,725, up 79.5 percent since 2000. That group comprised 7.6 percent of the total county population, compared with 5.8 percent for those of Puerto Rican descent.

The dramatic increase in those of Puerto Rican origin came as no surprise to Ana Rivera de Ramos, president of the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Polk County. Rivera, a native of Puerto Rico, moved to Polk County in 2002.

Rivera, a college admissions counselor, said much of the influx is coming from other parts of Florida. She said Puerto Ricans are fleeing the congestion of the Orlando area for Polk County, particularly North Lakeland ? where she lives ? and Polk City.

"Lakeland is more similar to what we're looking for when we're looking at communities," Rivera said. "It's smaller, less expensive, quieter and Christian-based."

Rivera said Polk County will become even more appealing for Puerto Rican natives in November, when Direct Air begins offering nonstop flights from Lakeland Linder Regional Airport to San Juan, Puerto Rico's capital.

The number of Polk residents of Cuban origin increased 206 percent to 6,992 in 2010. Those listed as "other" in the Hispanic/Latino category numbered 18,990, or 3.2 percent of Polk residents.

The census figures showed great variations throughout Polk County. Those of Puerto Rican descent outnumbered Mexican-Americans 19,055 to 927 in the Poinciana area and 4,375 to 534 in the Four Corners area.

By contrast, Bartow, Fort Meade, Haines City, Lake Wales and Wahneta had significantly more residents who identified themselves as Mexican rather than Puerto Rican. In Wahneta, a largely migrant community, the difference was 2,978 to 72, respectively.

Lakeland had the highest concentration of Cuban-Americans, which made up 12.7 percent of its total Hispanic population.

The rising percentage of Latinos is having an effect in schools. The Polk County School District serves 11,334 students in its English for Speakers of Other Languages program, with the majority of them in elementary schools, said Gary Pratt, a teacher resource specialist. Pratt said 65 percent to 75 percent come from Spanish-speaking families.

Florida law requires public school instruction to be conducted in English. Pratt said the district has translators for parents who don't speak English.

Arthur Martinez, principal at Fort Meade Middle-Senior High School, said nearly 40 percent of his students are Latinos, mainly of Mexican ancestry. Martinez, a native of Cuban, is fluent in Spanish, as are several staff members.

The Polk School District also operates dual-language programs in five elementary schools, with instruction split between English and another language, said Tamara Salgado, curriculum coordinator for world languages. The program, one of only a few in the state, serves about 800 students, Salgado said.

Those identified as black or African-American made up 14.8 percent of Polk's population, compared with 13.5 percent in 2000. Blacks comprised 27.7 percent of the population in Winter Haven, 27.5 percent in Haines City, 23.7 percent in Bartow and 20.9 percent in Lakeland.

Whites overwhelmingly outnumbered blacks in the small communities of Homeland (356 to five), Hillcrest Heights (244 to seven) and Highland Park (210 to seven).

[ Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. ]

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