The country’s black population is moving back to the South. And the latest from the Census shows Georgia with the highest number of African Americans.

The southern region of the U.S. has accounted for about three-quarters of population gains among blacks in the last decade. According to the Census, that’s a 10 percent rise since the 1990’s.

University of Georgia demography professor Doug Bachtel says one reason is a growing and more diversified economy in the South. But Bachtel says another reason is a reversing historical trend since the passage of civil rights legislation decades ago.

“We’ve had a significant number of black ‘out’-migtration, and then a lot of those folks want to return home to retire. We attract young people, and then we attract older African-American retirees. So we get it both ways.”

Census data shows 57 percent of African Americans now live in the South. That’s the highest percentage since 1960.

Tags: Georgia, African-Americans, census, black population