Champaign County has grown more ethnically diverse since the 2000 Census, the new 2010 figures show, both in the twin cities and in many villages.

Vermilion County's biggest city, Danville, also has become more diverse in the past 10 years.

In Champaign County, the fastest growth was seen in Asian and Hispanic populations.

Cameron Moore, the director of the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission, said the county numbers "make sense given nationwide trends."

"Nationally the fastest-growing populations are Hispanic and Asian," he said, adding that he had only just started to look at the local figures.

Here is a series of maps representing race in Champaign-Urbana, from the CU Citizen Access project.

In Champaign, the percentage of people describing themselves as white shrank from 73 percent to 67.75 percent over the decade, according to figures released Tuesday.

The percentage reporting as black increased only by hundredths of a percent, to 15.64 percent in 2010.

But Asians saw significant growth, from 6.83 percent of the city's population in 2000 to 10.57 percent in 2010.

The city had 2,387 more Hispanics in 2010 than in 2000, an 88 percent increase.

Joan Walls, Champaign's community relations expert, said "it does not surprise me that our community is becoming more and more diverse."

"It's wonderful. It has been essential to the vision of our Champaign city council that we are becoming more diverse," she said. "Especially as we are wrapping up the last phase of our 150th anniversary celebration, part of that is building for our future, moving forward to a more diverse community."

Urbana's Hispanic population grew by 877, a 68 percent increase, over the decade. Whites make up 60 percent of the population, down from 67 percent in 2000.

Urbana's Asian population grew by 2,147, a 41 percent increase. The black population grew more slowly, from 14 percent to 16 percent of the city's total.

Asians have now surpassed blacks in numbers in Urbana, as 17.76 percent of the population. In 2000, the groups were a tenth of a percent apart.

In Danville, meanwhile, the census reveals a city that's become more diverse in the last 10 years, as three minority categories have grown significantly since 2000, while the white population has decreased by more than 3,000 people, or 13 percent.

The Hispanic population grew the most, by 39 percent, increasing from 1,549 to 2,154, and the black population increased 20 percent, from 8,261 to 9,963.

Ana Nasser, coordinator of the Child Development Center at Danville Area Community College, has been actively involved for years in reaching out to the Hispanic population in various ways, even helping DACC with recruitment and retention of Hispanic students.

She said she's happy to hear that the 2010 census shows an increase in the Hispanic population in Danville, because she's known that past numbers have not accurately reflected the local Hispanics, referring to them as an almost invisible group. She said that's partly why she's been active in finding ways to support and reach out to the Hispanic population.

"We have known it was going to increase more and more," Nasser said. She said many organizations, businesses and agencies, including DACC, have more programs and services and printed material that serve the Hispanic population.

Although she's pleased to see the increase reflected in the census, she said she knows not everyone in the local Hispanic community responds to the census.

"The numbers are bigger than before, but it's still not representative of all the ones here," she said.

Another significant increase in Danville was in the category of people who listed themselves as two or more races. That population increased by more than 75 percent, from 651 to 1,143. Though much smaller numbers, the American Indian population in Danville grew by more than 29 percent, from 72 to 93.

The Asian population dropped slightly, from 406 to 399.

In Champaign County's larger villages, where there was less diversity to begin with, there were some dramatic changes.

In Mahomet, the black population grew by 35 from only seven in 2010, a 500 percent increase, as the village grew enormously.

Its Asian population grew almost as much on a percentage basis, 348 percent. Its Hispanic population more than doubled.

St. Joseph, which remains 98.9 percent white, saw its black population grow by 11, a 367 percent increase.

Here is the breakdown of the major ethnicities in Vermilion County, according to Tuesday's release:

And here are numbers for Champaign County: