Census Bureau Facts for Features:Hispanics in the United States

CB98-FF.11 September 8, 1998 Hispanic Heritage Month: September 15-October 15 Population Distribution

- On July 1, 1998, an estimated 30.4 million people of Hispanic origin lived in the United States. They comprised 11.3 percent of the total population. Since July 1, 1990, the Hispanic population has increased 35 percent, while the total U.S. population grew 8 percent. (These totals do not include persons living in Puerto Rico, estimated at 3.8 million as of July 1, 1997.) http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/nation/intfile3-1.txt and http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-54.html - The nation's Hispanic population is young, with an estimated median age on July 1,1998, of 26.5 years--nine years younger than the median for the U.S. population as a whole. http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/nation/intfile3-1.txt - Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of the nation's Hispanics in 1997 were of Mexican origin. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-137.html - By the middle of the next century, according to middle-series population projections, the nation's Hispanic population is expected to reach 96.5 million (24.5 percent of the nation's total population). Long before that, by 2005, it is projected that Hispanics will surpass non-Hispanic African Americans to become the nation's largest minority group. Projections indicate that this transition has already occurred among children under 18. On July 1, 1998, there were 10.5 million Hispanic children in the United States, outnumbering non-Hispanic African American children by 35,000. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb96-36.html

As of July 1, 1997, according to population estimates:

- The Hispanic population of six states totaled at least 1 million: California (9.9 million), Texas (5.7 million), New York (2.6 million), Florida (2.1 million), Illinois (1.2 million) and Arizona (1.0 million). Combined, California and Texas contained more than half of the nation's Hispanics. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-160.html - The states with the highest concentration of Hispanics were New Mexico (where Hispanics constituted 40 percent of the total population), California (31 percent), Texas (29 percent), Arizona (22 percent), Nevada (15 percent), Florida (14 percent), Colorado (14 percent) and New York (14 percent). http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-160.html - The 10 counties with the highest Hispanic population were Los Angeles, Calif. (4.0 million), Dade, Fla. (1.1 million), Cook, Ill. (870,000), Harris, Texas (850,000), Orange, Calif. (760,000), Bexar, Texas (750,000), San Diego, Calif. (700,000), Bronx, N.Y. (570,000), San Bernardino, Calif. (530,000) and Maricopa, Ariz. (530,000). http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-160.html - Texas was the location of all six counties where at least 90 percent of the residents were Hispanic. These counties were Starr (98 percent), Webb (95 percent), Maverick (95 percent), Jim Hogg (93 percent), Zavala (92 percent) and Brooks (91 percent). http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-160.html

Between April 1, 1990, and July 1, 1997, according to population estimates:

- California (2.2 million), Texas (1.4 million), Florida (530,000), New York (360,000) and Arizona (310,000) added more Hispanics than any other state. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-160.html - The 10 counties that added the most Hispanics to their populations were Los Angeles, Calif. (650,000), Harris, Texas (210,000), Orange, Calif. (200,000), San Diego, Calif. (190,000), Dade, Fla. (190,000), Maricopa, Ariz. (180,000), Cook, Ill. (170,000), Riverside, Calif. (160,000), Bexar, Texas (160,000) and San Bernardino, Calif. (160,000). http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-160.html

By 2025, according to projections,

- Hispanics will be the largest race or ethnic group in California, comprising 43 percent of the total population. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb96-176.html

Education

- Compared with a decade ago, the Hispanic population has made gains in educational attainment. In 1997, 55 percent of the nation's Hispanics, ages 25 and over, had earned at least a high school diploma; 29 percent had at least some college training; and 10 percent had at least a bachelor's degree. Ten years earlier, the respective figures were 51 percent, 22 percent and 8 percent. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-107.html - Among Hispanic subgroups, persons of Cuban descent were the most likely to have a bachelor's degree in 1997 20 percent of those ages 25 and over had a bachelor's or higher. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-137.html - About 450,000 Hispanics, ages 25 and over, had an advanced degree (e.g., master's, Ph.D., M.D. or J.D.) in 1997. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-107.html

Income and Poverty

- Households maintained by persons of Hispanic origin experienced a 5.8 percent increase in real median household income from 1995 to 1996 (to $24,906), offsetting the drop of 5.1 percent observed from 1994 to 1995. Additionally, real per capita income also increased significantly for Hispanics between 1995 and 1996 (4.9 percent to $10,048). http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb97-162.html - The poverty rate for Hispanics in 1996 was 29.4 percent, statistically unchanged from 1995. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb97-162.html

Coming to America

- In 1997, the nation's total foreign-born population numbered 25.8 million, of which about 1 out of every 2 (13.1 million) was a native of Latin America or the Caribbean. Looking at individual countries, Mexico (7.0million), Cuba (913,000), the Dominican Republic (632,000) and El Salvador (607,000) were among the biggest contributors to the nation's foreign-born population. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-57.html - As of 1997, nearly 4 in 10 of the nation's Hispanics were foreign born. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-137.html

Families

- In 1997, more than one-third (36 percent) of the nation's 8.2 million Hispanic households consisted of traditional families married couples with children versus less than a quarter (24 percent) of non-Hispanic households; additionally, more than half (52 percent) of all Hispanic households contained children versus only one-third (33 percent) of all non-Hispanic households. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-17.html - In 1997, Hispanic children were twice as likely to live with both parents (6.7 million) as to live with only one parent (3.3 million). The other 517,000 lived with neither parent. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-126.html

The Spanish Language

- The percentage of U.S. public high school students taking Spanish courses more than doubled between 1982 and 1994, from 12 percent to 27 percent. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb97-199.html - As of 1992, 8 percent of the nation's 17 million small businesses could conduct transactions in Spanish. Among Hispanic-owned small businesses, the proportion was 60 percent. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb97-182.html

Businesses

- The nation had 862,605 Hispanic-owned businesses in 1992, up 76 percent from 1987. These comprised 5 percent of all U.S. firms and had receipts of $76.8 billion (up 134 percent since 1987). http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb96-110.html - About two-thirds (68 percent) of U.S. Hispanic-owned firms in 1992 were located in California, Texas or Florida. Pinpointing the location of these firms even more precisely, Los Angeles County, Calif., and Dade County, Fla., combined were home to 1 in every 4 of them. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb96-110.html - The dream of emigrating to the United States and operating a business has become a reality for many of the world's Hispanics. In 1992, nearly half of the nation's 770,000 Hispanic-owned small-business owners were born outside the United States. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb97-182.html
The preceding facts come from the Current Population Survey, the Statistical Abstract of the United States, population estimates and projections, the Survey of Minority-Owned Business Enterprises and the Characteristics of Business Owners Survey. The data are subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. Previous Facts for Features in 1998 were: African-American History Month (Feb.), Valentine's Day (Feb. 14), Women's History Month (Mar.), Secretaries' Day (Apr. 22), Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month (May), Mother's Day (May 10), Father's Day (June 21), the Fourth of July, Back to School (August) and Grandparents Day (Sept. 13). Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureau's Public Information Office (Tel: 301-457- 3030; Fax: 301-457-3670; E-mail: pio@census.gov).