U.S. Census Bureau 1

U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

Issued May 2001

C2KBR/01-3

The Hispanic Population

Census 2000 Brief

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

Helping You Make Informed Decisions

2000

By

Betsy Guzmán

In Census 2000, 281.4 million residents were counted

in the United States (excluding the Commonwealth of

Puerto Rico and the U.S. Island Areas1), of which

35.3 million (or 12.5 percent) were Hispanic. Mexicans represented 7.3 percent, Puerto Ricans

1.2 percent, Cubans 0.4 percent, and other Hispanics

3.6 percent of the total

population.2 An additional

3.8 million Hispanics were

enumerated in the Commonwealth of Puerto

Rico. This report, part of a series that analyzes population and housing data collected

by Census 2000, provides a profile of the

Hispanic population in the United States.

The concept and measurement of

Hispanic origin have evolved across

several censuses.3

In Census 2000, people of Spanish/

Hispanic/Latino origin could identify as

Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or other

Spanish/Hispanic/Latino.4 The term

“Latino” appeared on the census form for

the first time in 2000 (see Figure 1). People

who marked “other Spanish/Hispanic/

Latino” had additional space to write Hispanic origins, such as Salvadoran or Dominican, a practice started in the 1990 census. The 1990 and 1980 censuses asked

people if they were of “Spanish/Hispanic

origin or descent” and if so, to choose

Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or other

Spanish/Hispanic.

The census in 1970 was the first to include

a separate question specifically on Hispanic

origin, although it was only asked of a 5-

percent sample of households. In 1970, respondents were asked to choose whether

their origin or descent was Mexican, Puerto

Rican, Cuban, Central or South American,

or other Spanish. Prior to 1970, Hispanic

origin was determined only indirectly; for

example, the 1960 and 1950 censuses collected and published data for “persons of

Spanish surname” in five southwestern

states,5 whereas the 1940 census identified

Figure 1.

Reproduction of the Question on 

Hispanic Origin From Census 2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 questionnaire.

Is this person Spanish/ Hispanic/ Latino? Mark the

"No" box if not Spanish /Hispanic/Latino.

5.

Yes, Puerto Rican

Yes, Cuban

✗

No, not Spanish /Hispanic / Latino

Yes, Mexican, Mexican Am., Chicano

Yes, other Spanish /Hispanic / Latino — Print group.

1 The U.S. Island Areas include U.S. Virgin Islands,

Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the

Northern Mariana Islands. 2 The population universe for the size and distribution

of the Hispanic population does not include data for the

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Data for Puerto Rico are

shown and discussed separately. 3 People of Hispanic origin, in particular, were those

who indicated that their origin was Mexican, Puerto

Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or some other

Hispanic origin. For example, people who indicate that

they are of Mexican origin may be either born in Mexico

or of Mexican heritage. People of Hispanic origin may be

of any race. 4 The terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” may be used interchangeably to reflect the new terminology in the standards issued by the Office of Management and Budget in

1997 that are to be implemented by January 1, 2003.

5 These states included Arizona, California, Colorado,

New Mexico, and Texas.
2 U.S. Census Bureau

people who reported Spanish as

their “mother tongue.” Mexican was

included as a category within the

race question only in the 1930 census.6

The Hispanic population

increased by more than 50

percent since 1990.

The Hispanic population increased

by 57.9 percent, from 22.4 million in

1990 to 35.3 million in 2000, compared with an increase of 13.2 percent for the total U.S. population.

Population growth varied by group.

Mexicans increased by 52.9 percent,

from 13.5 million to 20.6 million.

Puerto Ricans increased by 24.9 percent, from 2.7 million to 3.4 million.

Cubans increased by 18.9 percent,

from 1.0 million to 1.2 million. Hispanics who reported other origins

increased by 96.9 percent, from

5.1 million to 10.0 million.7

As a result of these different growth

rates, the proportionate distribution

of Hispanics by type changed between 1990 and 2000. In 2000,

Mexicans were 58.5 percent of all

Hispanics (down from 60.4 percent

in 1990), Puerto Ricans were 9.6 percent (down from 12.2 percent), Cubans were 3.5 percent (down from

4.7 percent), and the remaining

28.4 percent were of other Hispanic

origins (up from 22.8 percent) as

shown in Figure 2.

Other Hispanic origins refer to

a variety of identifications.

Among the 10.0 million other Hispanics in 2000, 1.7 million were

Central American, 1.4 million were

South American, and 765,000 were

Dominican.

Most other Hispanics did not specify

a detailed Hispanic origin, but either

checked the Spanish/Hispanic/Latino

box without providing any additional

information or wrote in answers

such as “Hispanic” or “Latino” or

“Spanish” (see Table 1). At 17.3 percent (6.1 million) of the total Hispanic population, Hispanic respondents who did not give a detailed

origin answer were second in size

only to the Mexican origin group.

Salvadorans were the largest

Central American group.

Central Americans represented

4.8 percent of the total Hispanic

population. There were 655,000

Salvadorans (1.9 percent of the total Hispanic population), 372,000

Guatemalans (1.1 percent), and

218,000 Hondurans (0.6 percent).

South Americans represented

3.8 percent of the total Hispanic

population. There were 471,000

Colombians (1.3 percent of the

total Hispanic population), 261,000

Ecuadorians (0.7 percent), and

234,000 Peruvians (0.7 percent).

More than three-quarters of

Hispanics lived in the West

or South. 8

In 2000, 43.5 percent of Hispanics

lived in the West and 32.8 percent

lived in the South. The Northeast

and Midwest accounted for

14.9 percent and 8.9 percent, respectively, of the Hispanic population.

Hispanics accounted for 24.3 percent of the population in the West,

6 For further information on the history of

Hispanic origin in the census, see Chapa, Jorge,

2000, “Hispanic/Latino ethnicity and identifiers,” in Encyclopedia of the U.S. Census, editor

Margo J. Anderson, Congressional Quarterly

Press, Washington, DC. 7 This increase may be caused by a change

in census coverage, as well as by a change in

the question format (the question on Hispanic

origin in 2000 did not include examples for the

“Other Hispanic” category while the 1990 question did), or by a change in identification

among Hispanics and non-Hispanics.

Figure 2.

Percent Distribution of the Hispanic 

Population by Type: 2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1.

All other Hispanic 17.3

Spaniard 0.3

South American 3.8

Central American 4.8

Dominican 2.2

CUBAN 3.5

PUERTO RICAN 9.6

MEXICAN 58.5

(For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and 

definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf1.pdf)

OTHER HISPANIC 28.4

8 The Northeast region includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,

New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The Midwest region includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan,

Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota,

Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The South

region includes Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware,

the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North

Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. The

West region includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada,

New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and

Wyoming.
U.S. Census Bureau 3

the only region in which Hispanics

exceeded the national level of

12.5 percent (see Table 2). Hispanics accounted for 11.6 percent of

the population in the South,

9.8 percent in the Northeast, and

4.9 percent in the Midwest.

Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans were concentrated in different

regions. Among Mexicans, 55.3 percent lived in the West, 31.7 percent

in the South, 10.7 percent in the

Midwest, and 2.3 percent in the

Northeast. Among Puerto Ricans,

60.9 percent lived in the Northeast,

22.3 percent in the South, 9.6 percent in the Midwest, and 7.2 percent

in the West. Among Cubans,

74.2 percent lived in the South,

13.6 percent in the Northeast,

8.5 percent in the West, and 3.6 percent in the Midwest.

Half of all Hispanics lived

in just two states: California

and Texas.

In 2000, 27.1 million, or 76.8 percent, of Hispanics lived in the seven

states with Hispanic populations of

1.0 million or more (California,

Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Arizona, and New Jersey). Hispanics in

California accounted for 11.0 million

(31.1 percent) of the total Hispanic

population, while the Hispanic population in Texas accounted for 6.7 million (18.9 percent). Hispanics numbered between 500,000 and

999,999 in only two states (Colorado and New Mexico). Hispanics in

22 states were between 100,000

and 499,999. Hispanics were less

than 100,000 in 19 states and the

District of Columbia.

Hispanics in New Mexico were

42.1 percent of the total state

population, the highest proportion

for any state. Hispanics were

12.5 percent (the national level) or

more of the state population in

eight other states (California,

Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado,

Florida, New York, and New Jersey).

Mexicans were the largest Hispanic

group in five of these states (California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and

Colorado), while Hispanics of other

Hispanic origins were the largest

group in the remaining states (New

Mexico, Florida, New York, and

New Jersey). Hispanics accounted

for less than 12.5 percent of the

population in 41 states and the

District of Columbia.

Hispanic origin groups were concentrated in different states. The largest

Mexican populations (more than a

million) were in California, Texas,

Illinois and Arizona, mostly southwestern states. The largest Puerto

Rican populations (more than

250,000) were in New York, Florida,

New Jersey, and Pennsylvania,

mostly northeastern states. About

two-thirds of all Cubans were in

Florida.

Table 1.

Hispanic Population byType: 2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf1.pdf)

Subject Number Percent

HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN

Total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281,421,906 100.0

Hispanic or Latino (of any race) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,305,818 12.5

Not Hispanic or Latino. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246,116,088 87.5

HISPANIC OR LATINO BY TYPE

Hispanic or Latino (of any race) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,305,818 100.0

Mexican . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,640,711 58.5

Puerto Rican . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,406,178 9.6

Cuban. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,241,685 3.5

Other Hispanic or Latino. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,017,244 28.4

Dominican (Dominican Republic) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 764,945 2.2

Central American (excludes Mexican) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,686,937 4.8

Costa Rican. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68,588 0.2

Guatemalan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372,487 1.1

Honduran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217,569 0.6

Nicaraguan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177,684 0.5

Panamanian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91,723 0.3

Salvadoran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655,165 1.9

Other Central American . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103,721 0.3

South American . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,353,562 3.8

Argentinean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100,864 0.3

Bolivian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,068 0.1

Chilean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68,849 0.2

Colombian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470,684 1.3

Ecuadorian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260,559 0.7

Paraguayan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,769 0.0

Peruvian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233,926 0.7

Uruguayan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,804 0.1

Venezuelan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91,507 0.3

Other South American. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,532 0.2

Spaniard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100,135 0.3

All other Hispanic or Latino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,111,665 17.3

Checkbox only, other Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,733,274 4.9

Write-in Spanish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686,004 1.9

Write in Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,454,529 7.0

Write-in Latino. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450,769 1.3

Not elsewhere classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 787,089 2.2

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1.
4 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2.

Hispanic Population byType for Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: 1990 and 2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf1.pdf)

Area

1990 2000

Total

population

Hispanic population

Total

population

Hispanic population Hispanic type

Number Percent Number Percent Mexican

Puerto

Rican Cuban

Other

Hispanic

United States .... 248,709,873 22,354,059 9.0 281,421,906 35,305,818 12.5 20,640,711 3,406,178 1,241,685 10,017,244

Region

Northeast ......... 50,809,229 3,754,389 7.4 53,594,378 5,254,087 9.8 479,169 2,074,574 168,959 2,531,385

Midwest........... 59,668,632 1,726,509 2.9 64,392,776 3,124,532 4.9 2,200,196 325,363 45,305 553,668

South ............ 85,445,930 6,767,021 7.9 100,236,820 11,586,696 11.6 6,548,081 759,305 921,427 3,357,883

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52,786,082 10,106,140 19.1 63,197,932 15,340,503 24.3 11,413,265 246,936 105,994 3,574,308

State

Alabama .......... 4,040,587 24,629 0.6 4,447,100 75,830 1.7 44,522 6,322 2,354 22,632

Alaska ............ 550,043 17,803 3.2 626,932 25,852 4.1 13,334 2,649 553 9,316

Arizona . . . . . . . . . . . 3,665,228 688,338 18.8 5,130,632 1,295,617 25.3 1,065,578 17,587 5,272 207,180

Arkansas.......... 2,350,725 19,876 0.8 2,673,400 86,866 3.2 61,204 2,473 950 22,239

California. ......... 29,760,021 7,687,938 25.8 33,871,648 10,966,556 32.4 8,455,926 140,570 72,286 2,297,774

Colorado .......... 3,294,394 424,302 12.9 4,301,261 735,601 17.1 450,760 12,993 3,701 268,147

Connecticut ........ 3,287,116 213,116 6.5 3,405,565 320,323 9.4 23,484 194,443 7,101 95,295

Delaware.......... 666,168 15,820 2.4 783,600 37,277 4.8 12,986 14,005 932 9,354

District of Columbia. . 606,900 32,710 5.4 572,059 44,953 7.9 5,098 2,328 1,101 36,426

Florida. ........... 12,937,926 1,574,143 12.2 15,982,378 2,682,715 16.8 363,925 482,027 833,120 1,003,643

Georgia ........... 6,478,216 108,922 1.7 8,186,453 435,227 5.3 275,288 35,532 12,536 111,871

Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,108,229 81,390 7.3 1,211,537 87,699 7.2 19,820 30,005 711 37,163

Idaho............. 1,006,749 52,927 5.3 1,293,953 101,690 7.9 79,324 1,509 408 20,449

Illinois ............ 11,430,602 904,446 7.9 12,419,293 1,530,262 12.3 1,144,390 157,851 18,438 209,583

Indiana . .......... 5,544,159 98,788 1.8 6,080,485 214,536 3.5 153,042 19,678 2,754 39,062

Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,776,755 32,647 1.2 2,926,324 82,473 2.8 61,154 2,690 750 17,879

Kansas ........... 2,477,574 93,670 3.8 2,688,418 188,252 7.0 148,270 5,237 1,680 33,065

Kentucky .......... 3,685,296 21,984 0.6 4,041,769 59,939 1.5 31,385 6,469 3,516 18,569

Louisiana. ......... 4,219,973 93,044 2.2 4,468,976 107,738 2.4 32,267 7,670 8,448 59,353

Maine ............ 1,227,928 6,829 0.6 1,274,923 9,360 0.7 2,756 2,275 478 3,851

Maryland . ......... 4,781,468 125,102 2.6 5,296,486 227,916 4.3 39,900 25,570 6,754 155,692

Massachusetts ..... 6,016,425 287,549 4.8 6,349,097 428,729 6.8 22,288 199,207 8,867 198,367

Michigan .......... 9,295,297 201,596 2.2 9,938,444 323,877 3.3 220,769 26,941 7,219 68,948

Minnesota ......... 4,375,099 53,884 1.2 4,919,479 143,382 2.9 95,613 6,616 2,527 38,626

Mississippi......... 2,573,216 15,931 0.6 2,844,658 39,569 1.4 21,616 2,881 1,508 13,564

Missouri. . . . . . . . . . . 5,117,073 61,702 1.2 5,595,211 118,592 2.1 77,887 6,677 3,022 31,006

Montana .......... 799,065 12,174 1.5 902,195 18,081 2.0 11,735 931 285 5,130

Nebraska. ......... 1,578,385 36,969 2.3 1,711,263 94,425 5.5 71,030 1,993 859 20,543

Nevada . . . . . . . . . . . 1,201,833 124,419 10.4 1,998,257 393,970 19.7 285,764 10,420 11,498 86,288

New Hampshire . . . . 1,109,252 11,333 1.0 1,235,786 20,489 1.7 4,590 6,215 785 8,899

New Jersey ........ 7,730,188 739,861 9.6 8,414,350 1,117,191 13.3 102,929 366,788 77,337 570,137

New Mexico ....... 1,515,069 579,224 38.2 1,819,046 765,386 42.1 330,049 4,488 2,588 428,261

New York. . . . . . . . . . 17,990,455 2,214,026 12.3 18,976,457 2,867,583 15.1 260,889 1,050,293 62,590 1,493,811

North Carolina. ..... 6,628,637 76,726 1.2 8,049,313 378,963 4.7 246,545 31,117 7,389 93,912

North Dakota. . . . . . . 638,800 4,665 0.7 642,200 7,786 1.2 4,295 507 250 2,734

Ohio ............. 10,847,115 139,696 1.3 11,353,140 217,123 1.9 90,663 66,269 5,152 55,039

Oklahoma ......... 3,145,585 86,160 2.7 3,450,654 179,304 5.2 132,813 8,153 1,759 36,579

Oregon ........... 2,842,321 112,707 4.0 3,421,399 275,314 8.0 214,662 5,092 3,091 52,469

Pennsylvania....... 11,881,643 232,262 2.0 12,281,054 394,088 3.2 55,178 228,557 10,363 99,990

Rhode Island....... 1,003,464 45,752 4.6 1,048,319 90,820 8.7 5,881 25,422 1,128 58,389

South Carolina ..... 3,486,703 30,551 0.9 4,012,012 95,076 2.4 52,871 12,211 2,875 27,119

South Dakota . ..... 696,004 5,252 0.8 754,844 10,903 1.4 6,364 637 163 3,739

Tennessee......... 4,877,185 32,741 0.7 5,689,283 123,838 2.2 77,372 10,303 3,695 32,468

Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,986,510 4,339,905 25.5 20,851,820 6,669,666 32.0 5,071,963 69,504 25,705 1,502,494

Utah ............. 1,722,850 84,597 4.9 2,233,169 201,559 9.0 136,416 3,977 940 60,226

Vermont .......... 562,758 3,661 0.7 608,827 5,504 0.9 1,174 1,374 310 2,646

Virginia ........... 6,187,358 160,288 2.6 7,078,515 329,540 4.7 73,979 41,131 8,332 206,098

Washington ........ 4,866,692 214,570 4.4 5,894,121 441,509 7.5 329,934 16,140 4,501 90,934

West Virginia....... 1,793,477 8,489 0.5 1,808,344 12,279 0.7 4,347 1,609 453 5,870

Wisconsin . ........ 4,891,769 93,194 1.9 5,363,675 192,921 3.6 126,719 30,267 2,491 33,444

Wyoming .......... 453,588 25,751 5.7 493,782 31,669 6.4 19,963 575 160 10,971

Puerto Rico1 ........ 3,522,037 (NA) (NA) 3,808,610 3,762,746 98.8 11,546 3,623,392 19,973 107,835

NA Not available.

1

Census 2000 was the first to ask a separate question on Hispanic origin in Puerto Rico.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1; 1990 Census of Population, General Population Characteristics (CP-1-1).
U.S. Census Bureau 5

Counties with the highest

proportions of Hispanics were

along the southwestern border

of the United States.

In 2000, the proportion of Hispanics within a county exceeded the

national level (12.5 percent) most

often in the counties of the South

and West, especially in counties

along the border with Mexico (see

Figure 3).

Hispanics were the majority of the

population in 50 counties, accounting for 13.5 percent of the total

Hispanic population. Of these

counties, 35 are in the South and

15 are in the West. In the South,

Hispanics were the majority in 34

counties in Texas and one in

Florida. In the West, Hispanics were

the majority in nine counties in

New Mexico, and two counties in

each of the following states: Arizona, California, and Colorado.

Hispanics also were concentrated

in groupings of counties outside of

the four states bordering Mexico.

In particular, Hispanic concentrations occurred in counties within

central Washington, in counties

within the mountain states of

Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado, in counties around Chicago,

New York, and the District of Colombia, and in counties within

southern Florida.

Hispanics represented more than

one-quarter but less than half of

the county population in 152 counties. The percent Hispanic exceeded the national level of

12.5 percent but was less than

25.0 percent of the population in

181 counties. The percent Hispanic

ranged from 6.0 percent to just under the national level in 311 counties. Hispanics represented less

than 6.0 percent of the county’s

population in 2,447 counties. Furthermore, Hispanics represented less

than 1.0 percent of a county’s population in 899 counties.

Hispanics were also present

in some counties within

nontraditional states.

While most Hispanics lived in the

South or West, some counties in

nontraditional Hispanic states such

as Georgia and North Carolina had

sizable proportions of Hispanic

populations.9 Hispanics within some

counties in North Carolina, Georgia,

Iowa, Arkansas, Minnesota, and Nebraska represented between 6.0 percent and 24.9 percent of the county’s

total population. The percent Hispanic within these counties exceeded the percent Hispanic (less

than 6.0 percent) for these states.

More than 4 million Hispanics

lived in Los Angeles County,

California.

In 2000, Hispanics in four counties

accounted for 21.9 percent of the total Hispanic population. There were

4.2 million Hispanics in Los Angeles

County, California, 1.3 million in

Miami-Dade County, Florida, 1.1 million in Harris County, Texas, and 1.1

million in Cook County, Illinois.

Hispanic origin groups were concentrated in different counties. The

largest Mexican populations lived

in counties that had large Hispanic

populations, including Los Angeles

County, California (3.0 million),

Harris County, Texas (815,000),

and Cook County, Illinois

(786,000). The two largest Puerto

Rican populations lived in two New

York counties: Bronx County

(319,000), and Kings County

(213,000). More than half (651,000

or 52.4 percent) of all Cubans lived

in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

The Commonwealth of Puerto

Rico was 98.8 percent

Hispanic.10

Of all Hispanics in Puerto Rico,

96.3 percent were of Puerto Rican

origin. The second largest Hispanic

population in Puerto Rico was Dominican, accounting for 1.5 percent

of all Hispanics there.

The proportion Hispanic ranges

from 97 percent to 99 percent in

the four places11 in Puerto Rico

with 100,000 or more population

(Ponce, Bayomón, Carolina, and

San Juan).

In 2000, more than a million

Hispanics lived in New York

and in Los Angeles.12

More than 500,000 Hispanics resided in Chicago, Houston, and San

Antonio (see Table 3). Among the

ten places13 with the largest

Hispanic populations, Puerto

Ricans represented the largest

9 For further discussion of change in the Hispanic population between 1990 and 2000, see

Brewer, Cynthia A., and Trudy A. Suchan, 2001,

Mapping Census 2000: The Geography of U.S.

Diversity, Census 2000 Special Reports,

CENSR/01-1, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington,

DC.

10 Census 2000 was the first to ask a separate question on Hispanic origin in Puerto Rico. 11 For further explanation of geographic entities in Puerto Rico, see Appendix A in U.S.

Census Bureau, 1993, Population and Housing

Unit Counts: Puerto Rico, 1990 Census of Population and Housing, CPH-2-53, Washington, DC. 12 Three in four (75.3 percent) Hispanics in

the state of New York resided in the five boroughs that make up New York City: 645,000 in

the Bronx, 557,000 in Queens, 488,000 in

Brooklyn, 418,000 in Manhattan, and 54,000 in

Staten Island. 13 In Census 2000, there were 245 places

in the United States (excluding the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) with 100,000 or more

population. These included 238 incorporated

places (including 4 city-county consolidations) and included 7 census designated

places (CDPs) that were not legally incorporated. For a list of places by state, see Table

4 or Table 5 in www.census.gov/population/

www.cen2000phc-t6.html.
6 U.S. Census Bureau 

U.S. perc

Percent Hispanic: 2000 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Redistricting Data (P.L. 94-171) Summary File. American FactFinder at factfinder.census.gov provides census data and mapping tools. 

U.S. per

(For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/pl94-171.pdf) Figure 3. 0 100 Miles 0 100 Miles 

0 100 Miles
U.S. Census Bureau 7

share (36.5 percent) of all Hispanics in New York, while Mexicans

represented the largest share (varying from 63.5 percent in Los Angeles to 83.4 percent in San Diego) of

all Hispanics in the nine other

places.14

ADDITIONAL FINDINGS ON

THE HISPANIC POPULATION

Was the Hispanic population

younger than the U.S.

population?

The relative youthfulness of the

Hispanic population is reflected in

its population under age 18 and in

its median age. While 25.7 percent

of the U.S. population was under

18 years of age in 2000, 35.0 percent of Hispanics were less than

age 18. The median age for Hispanics was 25.9 years while the median age for the entire U.S. population was 35.3 years. Mexicans had

a median age of 24.2 years, Puerto

Ricans 27.3 years, Central Americans 29.2 years, Dominicans

29.5 years, South Americans

33.1 years, Spaniards 36.4 years,

Cubans 40.7 years, and all other

Hispanics had a median age of

24.7 years.

In what places were Hispanics

the majority?

Hispanics in East Los Angeles15

were 96.8 percent (120,000) of the

population, the highest for any

place outside the Commonwealth

of Puerto Rico with 100,000 or

more total population (see Table 4).

Hispanics were the majority of the

population in eighteen other

places.16 Two of the top ten places

in terms of numbers of Hispanics,

El Paso and San Antonio, also had a

majority who were Hispanic

(76.6 percent and 58.7 percent, respectively).

What were the top places for

different Hispanic groups,

by size?

Most, but not all, of the places with

the largest specific Hispanic group

populations were among the ten

places with the largest Hispanic

populations. The largest Mexican

populations lived in Los Angeles,

Chicago, Houston, San Antonio, and

Phoenix. The largest Puerto Rican

populations lived in New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia. The largest

14 Mexicans accounted for the majority of

Hispanics in the remaining seven places (see

Table 3): Phoenix (83.4 percent), El Paso

(83.3 percent), Dallas (82.9 percent), San Jose

(81.9 percent), Houston (72.2 percent), San Antonio (70.5 percent), and Chicago (70.4 percent).

15 East Los Angeles, California is a census

designated place and is not legally incorporated. 16 Hispanics were the majority of the population in the ten places shown in Table 4 as

well as in these nine additional places:

Pomona, California (64.5), Salinas, California

(64.1 percent), Norwalk, California (62.9 percent), Ontario, California (59.9 percent), San

Antonio, Texas (58.7 percent), Downey, California (57.9 percent), Fontana, California

(57.7 percent), Corpus Christi, Texas (54.3 percent), and Paterson, New Jersey (50.1 percent).

Table 3.

Ten Largest Places in Total Population and in Hispanic

Population: 2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf1.pdf)

Place and state

Total population Hispanic population Percent

Hispanic of

total

Number Rank Number Rank population

New York, NY. . . . . . . . . . . 8,008,278 1 2,160,554 1 27.0

Los Angeles, CA . . . . . . . . 3,694,820 2 1,719,073 2 46.5

Chicago, IL . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,896,016 3 753,644 3 26.0

Houston, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,953,631 4 730,865 4 37.4

Philadelphia, PA. . . . . . . . . 1,517,550 5 128,928 24 8.5

Phoenix, AZ . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,321,045 6 449,972 6 34.1

San Diego, CA. . . . . . . . . . 1,223,400 7 310,752 9 25.4

Dallas, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,188,580 8 422,587 8 35.6

San Antonio, TX. . . . . . . . . 1,144,646 9 671,394 5 58.7

Detroit, MI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 951,270 10 47,167 72 5.0

El Paso, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . 563,662 23 431,875 7 76.6

San Jose, CA. . . . . . . . . . . 894,943 11 269,989 10 30.2

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1.

Table 4.

Ten Places of 100,000 or More Population With the Highest

Percent Hispanic: 2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf1.pdf)

Place and state Total population

Hispanic

population

Percent Hispanic of

total population

East Los Angeles, CA*. . . . . . 124,283 120,307 96.8

Laredo, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176,576 166,216 94.1

Brownsville, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . 139,722 127,535 91.3

Hialeah, FL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226,419 204,543 90.3

McAllen, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106,414 85,427 80.3

El Paso, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563,662 431,875 76.6

Santa Ana, CA . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337,977 257,097 76.1

El Monte, CA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115,965 83,945 72.4

Oxnard, CA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170,358 112,807 66.2

Miami, FL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362,470 238,351 65.8

*East Los Angeles, California is a census designated place and is not legally incorporated.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1.
8 U.S. Census Bureau

Cuban populations lived in Hialeah,

Miami, New York, Tampa, and Los

Angeles.

The largest Central American populations lived in the following

places: Los Angeles, New York,

Houston, Miami, and San Francisco,

while the largest South American

populations lived in New York, Los

Angeles, Chicago, and Miami.

ABOUT CENSUS 2000

The Census Bureau is required by

federal directive to collect data on

Hispanic origin. For additional information on the legal basis for the

question on Hispanic origin included in Census 2000, see Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race

and Ethnicity, Federal Register Notice, October 30, 1997, Volume 62,

Number 210. This document is

available on the Census Internet

site at: www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/race/

Ombdir15.html.

All levels of government need

information on Hispanic origin to

implement and evaluate programs,

such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, Public Health Act,

Healthcare Improvement Act, Job

Partnership Training Act, Equal

Credit Opportunity Act, Fair Housing Act, Census Redistricting Data

Program, and others.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information on Hispanic

origin in the United States, visit the

U.S. Census Bureau’s Internet site at

www.census.gov/population/www/

socdemo/hispanic.html.

Data on Hispanic origin from the

Census 2000 Summary File 1 are

planned for release on a state-bystate basis during June and July of

2001. The Census 2000 Redistricting

data are available on the Internet via

factfinder.census.gov and for purchase on CD-ROM and later on DVD.

For information on confidentiality

protection, nonsampling error, and

definitions, also see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/

doc/sf1.pdf or contact our Customer

Services Center at 301-457-4100.

For more information on specific ethnic and race groups in the United

States, go to www.census.gov and

click on “Minority Links.” This Web

page includes information about

Census 2000 and provides links to

reports based on past censuses and

surveys focusing on social and economic characteristics.

Information on other population and

housing topics will be presented in

the Census 2000 Brief series, located

on the U.S. Census Bureau’s Web site

at www.census.gov/population/www/

cen2000/briefs.html. This series will

present information about race, Hispanic origin, age, sex, household

type, housing tenure, and other social, economic, and housing characteristics.

For more information about Census

2000, including data products, call

our Customer Services Center at

301-457-4100 or e-mail

webmaster@census.gov.

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