William H. Frey

When the 2020 Census comes around, we’re going to have a majority-minority child population.

Nationally, even modest white support is no longer necessary for a Democratic victory if there is strong turnout for minorities.

What’s new here [in the recently released Census data] is that it shows there’s a pulse in the urban core, in big metro areas that have diverse economies. It’s interesting that Chicago and New York were the top ones, which suggests these are places that will attract young and well-off people who want to feel like they live in an important area. You can’t generalize entirely, of course, because while some urban cores are doing very well, others are still part of a broader suburban trend.

Our idea of what racial categories were in the past are changing. I think it's especially going to be changing for younger people as ... there's been an increase in mixed-race marriages, and that will eventually change the classic racial [categories].

A big sliver of American society that generally does well tends to cluster in Washington. When people make the argument that $250,000 is middle income, that’s way higher than most of the country regards as middle income. But here in Washington, your next-door neighbor has that kind of income.

I think there is at least a hint that we have hit bottom in this post-recession malaise in the United States. And by that I mean we've not turned up, but we're going down at a slower pace, and we might see a little bit of the glimmer of the light at the end of the tunnel.