Emilie Munson is reporting for the Times Union Orange and Saratoga counties were among the top five counties in New York for population growth from 2010 to 2020, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau late August 12. The population in New York and nationwide grew most around metropolitan areas and in counties that were already most populated. New York also became more racially and ethnically diverse, in line with a national trend. The number of people identifying as white declined in every New York county except in Saratoga, Rockland, Hamilton, New York and King counties. As of April 1, 2020, the New York population was 58 percent white, 18 percent Hispanic, 14 percent black, 7 percent Asian, less than 1 percent American Indian and less than 1 percent Pacific Islander, while 2 percent of people self-identified as two or more races. In the Capital Region, Orange, Saratoga, Albany, Schenectady, Sullivan and Rensselaer counties showed an increase in population from 2010 to 2020. During that same period, Dutchess, Montgomery, Putnam, Columbia, Greene, Washington, Delaware and Schoharie counties recorded population declines. The data released Thursday will kick off redistricting processes in all 50 states, allowing politicians to redraw the political maps. The numbers will influence the distribution of more than $1 trillion in federal funding for states, counties, cities and towns and will be used by by various institutions to make economic decisions or for research purposes. In the Capital Region, poor, urban areas and very rural areas were most at risk for an undercount in the 2020 census, experts said. It will take researchers several years to evaluate whether an undercount of these groups actually occurred. Read the full story in the Times Union.