Hispanic Americans By the Numbers
From the
U.S. Census Bureau
by U.S. Census Bureau
Population
46.9
million The estimated Hispanic population of the United States as of July 1, 2008, making people of Hispanic origin the nation's largest ethnic or race minority. Hispanics constituted 15% of the nation's total population. In addition, there are approximately 4 million residents of Puerto Rico.
More than 1
. . . of every two people added to the nation's population between July 1, 2007, and July 1, 2008, was Hispanic. There were 1.5 million Hispanics added to the population during the period.
3.2%
Percentage increase in the Hispanic population between July 1, 2007, and July 1, 2008, making Hispanics the fastest-growing minority group.
132.8 million
The projected Hispanic population of the United States on July 1, 2050.
According to this projection, Hispanics will constitute 30% of the
nation’s population by that date.
22.4
million
The nation’s Hispanic population during the
1990 Census—less than half the current total.
2nd
Ranking of the size of the U.S. Hispanic population worldwide, as of 2008. Only Mexico (110 million) had a larger Hispanic population than the United States (46.9 million).
64%
The percentage of Hispanic-origin people in the United States who were of Mexican background in 2007. Another 9% were of Puerto Rican background, with 3.5%, 3.1% Salvadoran, and 2.7% Dominican. The remainder were of some other Central American, South American or other Hispanic or Latino origin.
About
45% of the nation's Dominicans lived in New York City in 2007 and about half of the nation's Cubans in Miami-Dade County, Fla.
25%
Percentage of children younger than 5 who were Hispanic in 2008. All in all, Hispanics comprised 22% of children younger than 18.
27.7
years
Median age of the Hispanic population in 2008. This compared with 36.8 years for the population as a whole.
107
Number of Hispanic males in 2008 per every 100 Hispanic females. This was in sharp contrast to the overall population, which had 97 males per every 100 females.
States and Counties
48%
The percentage of the Hispanic-origin population that lived in California or Texas in 2008. California was home to 13.5 million Hispanics, and Texas was home to 8.9 million.
16
The number of states with at least a half-million Hispanic residents–Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.
45%
The percentage of New Mexico's population that was Hispanic in 2008, the highest of any state. Hispanics also made up at least one fifth of the population in California and Texas, at 37% each, Arizona (30%t), Nevada (26%), Florida (21%) and Colorado (20%). New Mexico had 891,000 Hispanics.
The Carolinas
The states with the highest percentage increases in Hispanic population between July 1, 2007, and July 1, 2008. South Carolina's increase was 7.7% and North Carolina's was 7.4%.
4.7
million
The Hispanic population of Los Angeles County, Calif., in 2008–the largest of any county in the nation. Los Angeles County also had the biggest numerical increase in the Hispanic population (67,000) since July 2007.
97%
Proportion of the population of Starr County, Texas, that was Hispanic as of 2008, which led the nation. All of the top 10 counties in this category were in Texas.
48
Number of the nation's 3,142 counties that are majority-Hispanic.
313,000
The increase in California's Hispanic population between July 1, 2007, and July 1, 2008, which led all states. Texas (305,000) and Florida (111,000) also recorded large increases.
20
Number of states in which Hispanics are the largest minority group. These states are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
Businesses
1.6 million
The number of
Hispanic-owned businesses in 2002.
- Nearly 43% of Hispanic-owned firms operated in construction; administrative and support, and waste management and remediation services; and other services, such as personal services, and repair and maintenance. Retail and wholesale trade accounted for nearly 36% of Hispanic-owned business revenue.
Counties with the highest number of Hispanic-owned firms were Los Angeles County (188,422); Miami-Dade County (163,187); and Harris County, Texas (61,934).
Triple
The
rate of growth of Hispanic-owned businesses between 1997 and 2002 (31%)
compared with the national average (10%) for all businesses.
$222 billion
Revenue generated by Hispanic-owned
businesses in 2002, up 19% from 1997.
44.6%
. . of all Hispanic-owned firms were owned by Mexicans, Mexican-Americans
and Chicanos.
29,168
Number of Hispanic-owned
firms with receipts of $1 million or more.
Families and Children
10.4 million
The number of Hispanic family households in the United States in 2008. Of these households, 62% included children younger than 18.
66%
The percentage of Hispanic family households consisting of a married couple.
43%
The percentage of
Hispanic family households consisting of a married couple with children
younger than 18.
70%
Percentage of Hispanic
children living with two married parents.
Spanish Language
35 million
The number of U.S. residents 5 and older who spoke Spanish at home in 2007. Those who hablan español constituted 12% of U.S. residents. More than half of these Spanish speakers spoke English "very well."
4
Number of states where at least one-in-five residents spoke Spanish at home in 2007–Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas.
78%
Percentage of Hispanics 5 and
older who speak Spanish at home.
Income, Poverty and Health
Insurance
$38,679
The median income of
Hispanic households in 2007, statistically unchanged from the previous year
after adjusting for inflation.
21.5%
The
poverty rate among Hispanics in 2007, up from 20.6% in 2006.
32.1%
The percentage of Hispanics who lacked
health insurance in 2007, down from 34.1% in 2006.
Education
62%
The percentage of Hispanics 25 and older who
had at least a high school education in 2008.
13%
The percentage of the Hispanic population 25
and older with a bachelor's degree or higher in 2008.
3.6 million
The number of Hispanics 18 and older
who had at least a bachelor's degree in 2008.
1 million
Number of Hispanics 25 and older with advanced degrees in 2008 (e.g., master's, professional, doctorate).
12%
Percentage of full-time college students (both undergraduate and graduate students) in October 2007 who were Hispanic, up from 10 percent in 2006.
Names
4
The number of Hispanic surnames ranked among the 15 most common in 2000. It was the first time that a Hispanic surname reached the top 15 during a census. Garcia was the most frequent Hispanic surname, occurring 858,289 times and placing eighth on the list – up from 18th in 1990. Rodriguez (ninth), Martinez (11th) and Hernandez (15th) were the next most common Hispanic surnames.
Jobs
67%
Percentage of Hispanics 16 and
older who are in the civilian labor force in 2007.
18%
The percentage of Hispanics 16 or older who worked in management, professional, and related occupations in 2007. The same percentage worked in production, transportation, and material moving occupations. Another 16% worked in construction, extraction, maintenance, and repair occupations. Approximately 24% of Hispanics 16 or older worked in service occupations; 21% in sales and office occupations; and 2% in farming, fishing, and forestry occupations.
79,400
Number of Hispanic chief executives. In addition, 50,866 physicians and surgeons; 48,720 postsecondary teachers; 38,532 lawyers; and 2,726 news analysts, reporters, and correspondents are Hispanic.
Voting
9.7 million
million
The number of Hispanic citizens who reported voting in the 2008 presidential election, about 2 million more than voted in 2004. The percentage of Hispanic citizens voting–50%–represented a statistical increase from 2004 (47%).
Serving our Country
1.1 million
The number of Hispanic veterans of the
U.S. armed forces.
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
