U.S. Census data released today set Hawaii’s population at 1,455,271, a 7% increase from the last decennial census in 2010.

Kauai and Hawaii counties saw the largest percentage growth, at 9.2% and 8.4%, respectively. Kauai’s population was pegged at 73,298, an increase of 6,207 residents over the 10-year period, according to the data. Hawaii County’s population hit 200,629, with 15,550 new residents.

Honolulu’s population was counted at 1,016,508, up 6.6%, with an influx of 63,301 residents since the 2010 census.

Maui County’s population increased 6.4% to 164,754, with 9,920 new residents during the same period.

Hawaii ranked as the 40th most populous state in the U.S., unchanged from 2010, and 35th in terms of numerical population change and 23rd in percentage change.

It should be no surprise that Hawaii once again was the most ethnically diverse state in the country, topping the U.S. Census Bureau’s “diversity index,” which measures the probability that two people chosen at random will be from different race and ethnicity groups.

Hawaii led the index with a 76% probability, with California in the second spot at 69.7%.

Hawaii also was the only state with Asians comprising the largest racial or ethnic group. The new census data shows 36.5% of isle residents identifying as “Asian alone.” The second-largest group was “non-Hispanic white alone” at 21.6%, followed by those identifying as “non-Hispanic, two or more races” — also referred to as multiracial.

Whites made up the largest racial or ethnic group in three of the state’s four major counties: Hawaii (32.2%), Maui (31.5%) and Kauai (30.3%). In Honolulu, Asians accounted for 42.2% of residents.

Although still the most prevalent groups, the 2020 census indicated a decline of roughly one percentage point for both Asians and whites from 2010, with a slightly higher percentage of residents identifying as multiracial. And the percentage of whites declined a bit in all four counties.

Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders did not show up in the top three racial or ethnic groups in any of the major counties.

The 2020 census results also showed that Hawaii (21.8%) had the highest “diffusion score,” followed by Alaska (17.9%), Oklahoma (17.8%) and Nevada (16%). The diffusion score measures the percentage of residents not in the three largest groups combined, so the higher the score, the less concentrated the population is in the most prevalent groups.

Hawaii joined Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island as the only states with more housing units in 2020 than in 2010 in every one of their counties. The 2020 census show 561,066 housing units statewide, up 8% from 2010.

Other census data showed an increase in Hawaii’s adult population, with 79.4% of residents age 18 and older, up 9.4% from the previous census. Hawaii ranked 13th in terms of percentage of adult population.

Nationally, the figure was 77.9%, up 10.1% from the 2010 census.