American Community Survey Briefs

U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

U S C E N S U S B U R E A U

Helping You Make Informed Decisions

The Population With Haitian 

Ancestry in the United States: 2009

Introduction

This report describes the population with Haitian ancestry living in 

the United States based on the 2009 

American Community Survey (ACS). 

It also presents the distribution of 

people with Haitian ancestry across 

the United States. 

Haitian is a relatively small, yet growing, ancestry group in the United 

States, increasing from 290,000 

people with Haitian ancestry (0.1 percent of the total population) in 1990 

to 548,000 (0.2 percent) in 2000.1 By 

2009, an estimated 830,000 people 

with Haitian ancestry were living in 

the United States, or 0.3 percent of the 

total population.2

Geographic Distribution 

of the Population With 

Haitian Ancestry 

Of the estimated 830,000 people in 

the United States in 2009 with Haitian 

ancestry, about two-thirds lived in two 

states: Florida, with around 376,000, 

and New York, with 191,000. Five states 

had a higher percentage of Haitians than 

the national percentage of 0.3 percent 

(Florida, with 2.0 percent; New York, 

with 1.0 percent; Massachusetts, with 

1 Brittingham, Angela, and G. Patricia de la Cruz. 

Ancestry: 2000. U.S. Census Bureau. Census 2000 

Brief, C2KBR-35, issued June 2004. 2 Data are based on a sample and are subject to 

sampling variability; see Table 1 for margins of error.

0.9 percent; New Jersey, with 0.7 percent; 

and Connecticut, with 0.5 percent).3, 4, 5 

Characteristics of Haitians 

in the United States

In 2009, people with Haitian ancestry 

were, on average, younger than the 

total U.S. population. Specifically, the 

median age of the Haitian population 

was 30, compared with 37 for the total 

population.

3 The terms “Haitians” and “Haitian population” are 

used in this report to refer to people who reported 

Haitian ancestry. 4 Although the estimates of the percentage of 

the population who were Haitian in Delaware and 

Georgia appear higher than the U.S. percentage, 

they were not statistically different from the national 

percentage. 5 The percentage of the population in 

Massachusetts with Haitian ancestry was not statistically different from the percentage in New York.

Issued October 2010

ACSBR/09-18

By

Angela B. Buchanan

Nora G. Albert

Daniel Beaulieu 

How Is Haitian Ancestry 

Determined? 

The ACS asks each person to write 

in his or her “ancestry or ethnic 

origin.” From the responses collected, 

the U.S. Census Bureau considers 

anyone who wrote in “Haitian” or 

“Haiti” to be of Haitian ancestry. 

Ancestry is a broad concept. The 

Census Bureau defines ancestry as the 

ethnic origin, descent, roots, heritage, 

or place of birth of the person or of the 

person’s ancestors. The question was 

not intended to measure the degree 

of attachment to a group, but simply 

to establish the ethnic group(s) with 

which the respondent self-identifies.
2 U.S. Census Bureau

Haitian households were more 

likely to be family households 

and to be larger, on average, than 

households in the total population.6 Around 79 percent of Haitian 

households were family households, compared with 67 percent of 

households in the total population. 

The average household size where 

there was a Haitian householder 

was 3.7 people, compared with 

2.6 people for the total population. 

Approximately 59 percent of the 

population with Haitian ancestry was foreign born, compared 

with 13 percent of the total U.S. 

population. This is reflected in 

the high proportion of Haitians 

aged 5 and over who speak a 

language other than English at 

home (81 percent, compared with 

20 percent in the total population). 

6 Based on the ancestry of the householder.

Also, among Haitians 25 years and 

over, 18 percent of both males and 

females had a bachelor’s degree or 

more, compared with 28 percent of 

males and 27 percent of females in 

the total population.

In 2009, Haitians were involved in 

the U.S. labor market at a higher 

rate than the total population. 

Seventy-one percent of those aged 

16 and over were in the civilian 

labor force, compared with 65 

percent of the total population. 

However, the median earnings of 

full-time, year-round workers were 

lower for both Haitian males and 

females—$33,000 for men and 

$29,000 for women, compared 

with $45,000 for men and $36,000 

for women in the total population. 

Median Haitian family income was 

also lower than for the total population, at $46,000 compared with 

$61,000. Around 14 percent of 

Haitians were unemployed, compared with 10 percent in the total 

population.

One in 5 Haitians in the United 

States was living in poverty (20 

percent) compared with 1 in 7 in 

the total population (14 percent).7 

Homeownership was lower for 

Haitian households; less than half 

(47 percent) were owner-occupied, 

compared with 66 percent of total 

U.S. households.

Source and Accuracy

Data presented in this report are 

based on people and households 

that responded to the ACS in 2009. 

The resulting estimates are representative of the entire population. 

All comparisons presented in this 

report have taken sampling error

7 For more information, see “How Poverty 

Is Calculated in the American Community 

Survey” at <www.census.gov/hhes/www

/poverty/definitions.html>.

MT

AK

NM

OR MN

KS

SD

ND

MO

WA

FL

IL IN

WI NY

PA

MI

OH

IA

ME

MA

CT 

AZ

NV

TX

CA CO

WY

UT

ID

NE

OK

GA

AR

AL

NC

MS

LA

TN

KY VA

SC

WV

RI 

DE 

MD 

DC 

NJ 

Figure 1.

Population Reporting Haitian Ancestry: 2009

(Data based on sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, 

nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/acs/www)

VT

HI

NH

U.S. total = 830,000

Number

100,000 or more

50,000 to 99,999

10,000 to 49,999

Less than 10,000

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2009, Puerto Rico Community Survey, 2009.

PR
U.S. Census Bureau 3

into account and are significant 

at the 90 percent confidence level 

unless otherwise noted. Due to 

rounding, some details may not 

sum to totals. For information on 

sampling and estimation methods, 

confidentiality protection, and 

sampling and nonsampling errors, 

please see the “ACS Accuracy of the 

Data (2009)” document located at 

<www.census.gov/acs/www

/Downloads/data_documentation

/Accuracy/ACS_Accuracy_of_

Data_2009.pdf>. 

Table 1.

Demographic, Social, Economic, and Housing Characteristics for the Population Who 

Reported Haitian Ancestry: 2009

(In percent. Data based on sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, 

see www.census.gov/acs/www)

Characteristic Total population

Margin of 

error1 (±)

Haitian 

population

Margin of 

error1 (±)

 Total Population (in thousands) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307,007 (X) 830 30

Median age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36.8 0.1 29.7 0.5

Sex

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49.3 0.1 48.9 0.9

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.7 0.1 51.1 0.9

Households by Type2

Family households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66.5 0.1 78.8 1.7

Nonfamily households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33.5 0.1 21.2 1.7

Average household size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.63 0.01 3.69 0.07

Educational Attainment (25 years and over)

Males with a bachelor’s degree or higher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.4 0.1 18.3 1.6

Females with a bachelor’s degree or higher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.4 0.1 18.2 1.5

Nativity and Language Spoken at Home

Foreign born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.5 0.1 59.0 0.5

Population 5 years and over who spoke a language other than 

English at home......................................... 20.0 0.1 81.2 1.1

Civilian Labor Force Participation and Unemployment

Population 16 years and over in civilian labor force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64.7 0.1 70.9 1.1

Civilian labor force unemployed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.9 0.1 14.2 1.1

Earnings and Income (dollars)

Median earnings for males3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,485 128 32,650 1,250

Median earnings for females3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,549 79 28,937 974

Median family income2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61,082 109 45,626 2,040

Poverty

Individuals below poverty for whom poverty was determined . . . . . . 14.3 0.1 19.6 1.5

Housing Tenure2

Owner-occupied housing units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65.9 0.1 46.5 2.0

Renter-occupied housing units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34.1 0.1 53.5 2.0

(X) Not applicable.

1

Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. A margin of error is a measure of an estimate’s variability. The larger the margin of error 

in relation to the size of the estimate, the less reliable the estimate. When added to and subtracted from the estimate, the margin of error forms the 90 percent 

confidence interval. 2

Based on the ancestry of the householder. 3

Based on full-time, year-round workers.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2009, Selected Population Profile, S0201.

What Is the American Community Survey?

The American Community Survey (ACS) is a nationwide survey designed 

to provide communities with reliable and timely demographic, social, 

economic, and housing data for the nation, states, congressional districts, counties, places, and other localities every year. It has an annual 

sample size of about 3 million addresses across the United States and 

Puerto Rico and includes both housing units and group quarters (e.g., 

nursing facilities and prisons). The ACS is conducted in every county 

throughout the nation, and every municipio in Puerto Rico, where it is 

called the Puerto Rico Community Survey. Beginning in 2006, ACS data 

for 2005 were released for geographic areas with populations of 65,000 

and greater. For information on the ACS sample design and other topics, 

visit <www.census.gov/acs/www>.