Minnesota by the numbers: Rise of the geezers and other statistical curiosities

For Malthusians, misanthropes and fear mongers of all stripes, there is plenty to get worked up over in the latest report from the Minnesota Demographic Center, Halftime Highlights: Minnesota at Mid-Decade.

For gerascophobes (no need to lunge for the dictionary, it's just the ten dollar term for people scared by the prospect of aging): Between 2000 and 2005, the population of people 85 years or older increased by 18.9 percent.

For suburbaphobes: Of the ten communities in Minnesota that recorded the largest increase in population between 2000 and 2005, nine are suburbs of Minneapolis and St. Paul. By percentage, the largest increase occured in Forest Lake, which surged by 155 percent.

For garden variety xenophones: Between 2000 and 2005, the Latino population surged by 29 percent. As of 2005, one quarter of the children under age one in Minnesota were non-white.