U.S. Census Bureau 1

U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

Issued March 2001

C2KBR/01-1

Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin

Census 2000 Brief

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

Helping You Make Informed Decisions

2000

Every census must adapt to

the decade in which it is

administered. New technologies emerge and

change the way the U.S.

Census Bureau collects and

processes data. More importantly, changing

lifestyles and emerging

sensitivities among the

people of the United States

necessitate modifications

to the questions that are

asked. One of the most important changes for Census

2000 was the revision of

the questions on race and

Hispanic origin to better reflect the country’s growing

diversity.

This report, part of a series

that analyzes population

and housing data collected

from Census 2000, provides a portrait of race and

Hispanic origin in the

United States and discusses their distributions

at the national level. It is based on the

Census 2000 Redistricting (Public Law 94-

171) Summary File, which is among the

first Census 2000 data products to be released and is used by each state to draw

boundaries for legislative districts.1

UNDERSTANDING RACE

AND HISPANIC ORIGIN DATA

FROM CENSUS 2000

The 1990 census questions on race

and Hispanic origin were changed

for Census 2000.

The federal government considers race and

Hispanic origin to be two separate and

distinct concepts. For Census 2000, the

questions on race and Hispanic origin were

asked of every individual living in the

United States. The question on Hispanic

origin asked respondents if they were

By

Elizabeth M. Grieco and

Rachel C. Cassidy

Figure 1.

Reproduction of Questions on Race and 

Hispanic Origin From Census 2000

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

NOTE: Please answer BOTH Questions 5 and 6.

Is this person Spanish/ Hispanic/ Latino? Mark the

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

5.

Yes, Puerto Rican

Yes, Cuban

What is this person's race? Mark one or more races to

indicate what this person considers himself/herself to be.

6.

White

Black, African Am., or Negro

American Indian or Alaska Native — Print name of enrolled or principal tribe.

Some other race — Print race.

Japanese

Korean

Vietnamese

Native Hawaiian

Guamanian or Chamorro

Samoan

Other Pacific Islander — Print race.

➔

Asian Indian

Chinese

Filipino

Other Asian — Print race.

✗

✗

No, not Spanish /Hispanic / Latino

Yes, Mexican, Mexican Am., Chicano

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

1 This report includes data for 50 states and the District of Columbia, but not Puerto Rico. The Census 2000

Redistricting (Public Law 94-171) Summary File will be

released on a state-by-state basis in March 2001. It does

not contain data for specific Hispanic origin groups (for

example, Mexican or Puerto Rican) or specific race

groups or tribes (for example, Chinese, Samoan, or

Cherokee), and therefore these specific groups are not

discussed in this report.
2 U.S. Census Bureau

Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino.2 The

question on race asked respondents

to report the race or races they considered themselves to be. Both questions are based on self-identification.

The question on Hispanic origin

for Census 2000 was similar to the

1990 census question, except for

its placement on the questionnaire.

For Census 2000, the question on

Hispanic origin was asked directly

before the question on race. For

the 1990 census, the order was reversed — the question on race preceded questions on age and marital

status, which were followed by the

question on Hispanic origin.

The question on race for Census

2000 was different from the one

for the 1990 census in several

ways. Most significantly, respondents were given the option of selecting one or more race categories

to indicate their racial identities. 3

Because of these changes, the Census 2000 data on race are not directly comparable with data from

the 1990 census or earlier censuses. Caution must be used when

interpreting changes in the racial

composition of the U.S. population

over time.

Census 2000 used established

federal guidelines to collect

and present data on race and

Hispanic origin.

Census 2000 adheres to the federal

standards for collecting and presenting data on race and Hispanic

origin as established by the Office

of Management and Budget (OMB)

in October 1997.

The OMB defines Hispanic or Latino

as “a person of Cuban, Mexican,

Puerto Rican, South or Central

American, or other Spanish culture

or origin regardless of race.” In

data collection and presentation,

federal agencies are required to use

a minimum of two ethnicities: “Hispanic or Latino” and “Not Hispanic

or Latino.”

Starting with Census 2000, the

OMB requires federal agencies to

use a minimum of five race categories:

How are the race categories used in Census 2000 defined?

“White” refers to people having origins in any of the original peoples

of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. It includes people who

indicated their race or races as “White” or wrote in entries such as

Irish, German, Italian, Lebanese, Near Easterner, Arab, or Polish.

“Black or African American” refers to people having origins in any of the

Black racial groups of Africa. It includes people who indicated their race

or races as “Black, African Am., or Negro,” or wrote in entries such as

African American, Afro American, Nigerian, or Haitian.

“American Indian and Alaska Native” refers to people having origins in

any of the original peoples of North and South America (including

Central America), and who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment. It includes people who indicated their race or races by marking this category or writing in their principal or enrolled tribe, such as

Rosebud Sioux, Chippewa, or Navajo.

“Asian” refers to people having origins in any of the original peoples of

the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent. It includes

people who indicated their race or races as “Asian Indian,” “Chinese,”

“Filipino,” “Korean,” “Japanese,” “Vietnamese,” or “Other Asian,” or wrote

in entries such as Burmese, Hmong, Pakistani, or Thai.

“Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander” refers to people having

origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or

other Pacific Islands. It includes people who indicated their race or

races as “Native Hawaiian,” “Guamanian or Chamorro,” “Samoan,” or

“Other Pacific Islander,” or wrote in entries such as Tahitian, Mariana

Islander, or Chuukese.

“Some other race” was included in Census 2000 for respondents

who were unable to identify with the five Office of Management and

Budget race categories. Respondents who provided write-in entries

such as Moroccan, South African, Belizean, or a Hispanic origin (for

example, Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Cuban) are included in the Some

other race category.

2 Hispanics may be of any race. The terms

“Hispanic” and “Latino” are used interchangeably in this report. 3 Other changes included terminology and

formatting changes, such as spelling out

“American” instead of “Amer.” for the American

Indian and Alaska Native category and adding

“Native” to the Hawaiian response category. In

the layout of the Census 2000 questionnaire,

the Asian response categories were alphabetized and grouped together, as were the Pacific

Islander categories after the Native Hawaiian

category. The three separate American Indian

and Alaska Native identifiers in the 1990 census (i.e., Indian (Amer.), Eskimo, and Aleut)

were combined into a single identifier in Census 2000. Also, American Indians and Alaska

Natives could report more than one tribe.
U.S. Census Bureau 3

• White;

• Black or African American;

• American Indian or Alaska Native;

• Asian; and

• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific

Islander.

For respondents unable to identify

with any of these five race categories, the OMB approved including a

sixth category — “Some other race”

— on the Census 2000 questionnaire. The category Some other race

is used in Census 2000 and a few

other federal data collection activities. As discussed later, most respondents who reported Some other race

are Hispanic. For definitions of the

race categories used in Census

2000, see the box on page 2.

The Census 2000 question on race

included 15 separate response categories and three areas where respondents could write in a more specific race group (see Figure 1). The

response categories and write-in answers can be combined to create the

five minimum OMB race categories

plus Some other race. In addition to

White, Black or African American,

American Indian and Alaska Native,

and Some other race, seven of the

15 response categories are Asian

and four are Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander.

HISPANIC ORIGIN IN

CENSUS 2000

According to Census 2000,

281.4 million people resided in the

United States, and 35.3 million, or

about 13 percent, were Latino (see

Table 1). The remaining 246.1 million people, or 87 percent, were not

Hispanic.

RACE IN CENSUS 2000

The race data collected by

Census 2000 can be collapsed

into seven categories.

People who responded to the question on race by indicating only one

race are referred to as the race alone

population, or the group that reported4 only one race category. Six

categories make up this population:

• White alone;

• Black or African American alone;

• American Indian and Alaska

Native alone;

• Asian alone;

• Native Hawaiian and Other

Pacific Islander alone; and

• Some other race alone.

Individuals who chose more than

one of the six race categories are

referred to as the Two or more

races population, or as the group

that reported more than one race.

All respondents who indicated

more than one race can be collapsed into the Two or more races

category, which combined with the

six alone categories, yields seven

mutually exclusive and exhaustive

categories. Thus, the six race alone

categories and the Two or more

races category sum to the total

population.

The overwhelming majority of

the U.S. population reported

only one race.

In Census 2000, nearly 98 percent

of all respondents reported only

one race (see Table 1). The largest

group reported White alone, accounting for 75 percent of all

people living in the United States.

The Black or African American

alone population represented

12 percent of the total. Just under

1 percent of all respondents indicated only American Indian and

Alaska Native. Approximately

4 percent of all respondents indicated only Asian. The smallest race

group was the Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander alone population, representing 0.1 percent of

the total population. The remainder

of the “one race” respondents —

5.5 percent of all respondents —

indicated only Some other race.5

Table 1.

Population by Race and Hispanic Origin for the United

States: 2000

Race and Hispanic or Latino Number

Percent of total

population

RACE

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

One race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274,595,678 97.6

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211,460,626 75.1

Black or African American . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,658,190 12.3

American Indian and Alaska Native . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,475,956 0.9

Asian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,242,998 3.6

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander . . . . . . . . . 398,835 0.1

Some other race. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,359,073 5.5

Two or more races. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,826,228 2.4

HISPANIC OR LATINO

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

Hispanic or Latino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,305,818 12.5

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

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Redistricting (Public Law 94-171) Summary

File, Tables PL1 and PL2.

5 The Some other race alone category consists predominantly (97.0 percent) of people of

Hispanic origin, and is not a standard OMB race

category.

4 In this report, the term “reported” is used

to refer to the response provided by respondents as well as responses assigned during the

editing and imputation processes.
4 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2.

Population of Two orMore Races, IncludingAll Combinations, forthe United States: 2000

Race

Number

Percent of Two or

more races

population

Two or more races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,826,228 100.0

Two races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,368,075 93.3

White; Black or African American. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 784,764 11.5

White; American Indian and Alaska Native. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,082,683 15.9

White; Asian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 868,395 12.7

White; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112,964 1.7

White; Some other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,206,251 32.3

Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182,494 2.7

Black or African American; Asian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106,782 1.6

Black or African American; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,876 0.4

Black or African American; Some other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417,249 6.1

American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52,429 0.8

American Indian and Alaska Native; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,328 0.1

American Indian and Alaska Native; Some other race. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93,842 1.4

Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138,802 2.0

Asian; Some other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249,108 3.6

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,108 0.5

Three races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410,285 6.0

White; Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112,207 1.6

White; Black or African American; Asian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,166 0.3

White; Black or African American; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,938 -

White; Black or African American; Some other race. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,172 0.6

White; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,766 0.3

White; American Indian and Alaska Native; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. . . . . . . . . . 4,843 0.1

White; American Indian and Alaska Native; Some other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,095 0.4

White; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89,611 1.3

White; Asian; Some other race. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,962 0.5

White; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,364 0.1

Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,798 0.1

Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native; Native Hawaiian and Other

Pacific Islander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 998 -

Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native; Some other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,023 0.1

Black or African American; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,309 0.1

Black or African American; Asian; Some other race. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,069 0.1

Black or African American; Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander; Some other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,167 -

American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander . . . . . . . . . . 3,063 -

American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Some other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,544 -

American Indian and Alaska Native; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other

race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586 -

Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,604 0.1

Four races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,408 0.6

White; Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,672 0.2

White; Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native; Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 988 -

White; Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native; Some other race . . . . . . . . . 4,645 0.1

White; Black or African American; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,128 -

White; Black or African American; Asian; Some other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,376 -

White; Black or African American; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race . . 325 -

White; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. . . . 6,450 0.1

White; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Some other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,099 -

White; American Indian and Alaska Native; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some

other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 -

White; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,932 0.1

Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750 -

Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Some other race . . . . . . . . . 334 -

Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native; Native Hawaiian and Other

Pacific Islander; Some other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 -

Black or African American; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race . . 1,082 -

American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some

other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 -

See footnotes at end of table.
U.S. Census Bureau 5

Only 2.4 percent of all

respondents reported two or

more races.

The Two or more races category

represents all respondents who reported more than one race. The six

race categories of Census 2000 can

be put together in 57 possible combinations of two, three, four, five, or

six races (see Table 2). Less than

3 percent of the total population reported more than one race. Of the

6.8 million respondents who reported two or more races, 93 percent reported exactly two. The most

common combination was “White

and Some other race,” representing

32 percent of the Two or more races

population.6 This was followed by

“White and American Indian and

Alaska Native,” representing

16 percent, “White and Asian,” representing 13 percent, and “White and

Black or African American,”

representing 11 percent. Of all respondents reporting exactly two

races, 47 percent included Some

other race as one of the two. Of all

respondents who reported more

than one race, 7 percent indicated

three or more. Most of these

(90 percent) reported three races.

The Office of Management and

Budget identified four

combinations of two races for

civil rights monitoring and

enforcement.

In March 2000, the OMB established guidelines for the aggregation and allocation of race responses from Census 2000 for use

in civil rights monitoring and enforcement. These guidelines

included the five OMB race categories and identified four specific

combinations of two races.7 These

four OMB race combinations,

which were the largest combinations reported in recent research,

are:

• “White and American Indian and

Alaska Native”

• “White and Asian”

• “White and Black or African

American”

• “Black or African American and

American Indian and Alaska

Native.”

In fact, these four combinations

are the largest categories, when

combinations that include Some

other race are excluded. Combined, these four combinations accounted for 43 percent of the

population reporting Two or more

races (see Figure 2) and 1 percent

of the total population.

The maximum number of

people reporting a particular

race is reflected in the race

alone or in combination

category.

Respondents who reported only

one race together with those who

Table 2.

Population of Two orMore Races, IncludingAll Combinations, forthe United States:

2000—Con.

Race

Number

Percent of Two or

more races

population

Five races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,637 0.1

White; Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian

and Other Pacific Islander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,611 0.1

White; Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Some other race . . . 724 -

White; Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native; Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander; Some other race. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 -

White; Black or African American; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Some

other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379 -

White; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander;

Some other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 639 -

Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander; Some other race. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 -

Six races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 823 -

White; Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian

and Other Pacific Islander; Some other race. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 823 -

- Percentage rounds to 0.0.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Redistricting (Public Law 94-171) Summary File, Table PL1.

6 The Two or more races categories are denoted by quotations around the combinations

with the conjunction and in bold and italicized

print to indicate the separate race groups that

comprise the particular combination.

7 Guidance on Aggregation and Allocation

of Data on Race for Use in Civil Rights Monitoring and Enforcement, Office of Management and Budget Bulletin Number 00-02,

March 9, 2000. Also included in the guidelines was the inclusion of any multiple race

combinations [excluding Some other race]

that comprise more than 1 percent of the

population of interest. For more information,

see www.whitehouse.gov/omb/bulletins/

b00-02.html.
6 U.S. Census Bureau

reported that same race plus one

or more other races are combined

to create the race alone or in combination categories. For example,

the White alone or in combination

group consists of those respondents who reported White alone

plus those who reported White

combined with one or more other

race groups, such as “White and

Black or African American,” or

“White and Asian and American

Indian and Alaska Native.” Another

way to think of the group who reported White alone or in combination is as the total number of

people who identified entirely or

partially as White. This group is

also described as people who reported White, whether or not they

reported any other races.

Just as there are six race alone categories, there are six race alone or

in combination categories:

• White alone or in combination;

• Black or African American alone

or in combination;

• American Indian and Alaska

Native alone or in combination;

• Asian alone or in combination;

• Native Hawaiian and Other

Pacific Islander alone or in combination; and

• Some other race alone or in combination.

The alone or in combination categories are tallies of responses rather

than respondents. That is, the

alone or in combination categories

are not mutually exclusive. Individuals who reported two races

were counted in two separate and

distinct alone or in combination

race categories, while those who

reported three races were counted

in three categories, and so on. For

example, a respondent who indicated “White and Black or African

Figure 2.

Percent Distribution of Population of Two or More 

Races, Showing the Four Two-Race Combinations 

Identified by the Office of Management 

and Budget: 2000

Note: Population reporting two or more races was 2.4 percent of the total population.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Redistricting (Public Law 94-171) Summary File, Table PL1.

Three or more races

All other combinations

of two races

"Black or African American

and American Indian

and Alaska Native"

"White and Black or

African American"

"White and Asian"

"White and American Indian

and Alaska Native"

6.7

50.5

2.7

15.9

12.7

11.5

American” was counted in the

White alone or in combination category as well as in the Black or

African American alone or in combination category. Consequently,

the sum of all alone or in combination categories equals the number

of races reported (i.e., responses),

which exceeds the total population

(see Table 3).

In Census 2000, the population indicating their race as White, either

alone or with at least one other

race, was the largest of all the

alone or in combination categories

and represented over three-fourths

(77 percent) of the total population. The next two largest response

categories were the Black or

African American alone or in combination group, which represented

13 percent of the total population,

and the Some other race alone or in

combination category, which represented 7 percent of the population.

The Asian alone or in combination

group represented 4.2 percent.

The American Indian and Alaska

Native alone or in combination

group represented 1.5 percent.

The Native Hawaiian alone or in

combination group was the smallest and represented 0.3 percent of

the total population.

DISCUSSION OF

SPECIFIC RACE GROUPS

IN CENSUS 2000

The next six sections discuss the

results of Census 2000 for the

White, Black or African American,

American Indian and Alaska Native,

Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific

Islander, and Some other race

populations. Numbers and percentages are presented in three

ways: (1) for the race alone

category, (2) for the race in combination category, and (3) for the

race alone or in combination category.
U.S. Census Bureau 7

With the exception of the section

on the Some other race population,

each of the following discussions is

restricted to the five race categories defined by the Office of Management and Budget. Within the

tables presented in these five sections, combinations of the OMB

race categories with the Some

other race category are not shown

separately but are included in the

“All other combinations” category.

Because the Some other race category is not a standard OMB race,

the data for the Some other race

category, including combinations

with the five standard OMB groups,

are presented and discussed in a

separate section.

The White Population

Table 4 shows the number and

percentage of respondents to Census 2000 who reported only White,

as well as those who reported

White and at least one other race.

Approximately 211.5 million

people, or 75 percent of the total

population, reported only White. An

additional 5.5 million people reported White and at least one other

race. Within this group, the most

common OMB combinations were

“White and American Indian and

Alaska Native” (20 percent of the

population reporting White and one

or more other races), followed by

“White and Asian” (16 percent),

and “White and Black or African

American” (14 percent). Approximately 216.9 million people, or

77 percent of the population, reported White alone or in combination with one or more other races.

The Black or African

American Population

Table 5 shows the number and percentage of respondents to Census

2000 who reported only Black or

African American, as well as those

who reported Black or African

American and at least one other

race.

Approximately 34.7 million people,

or 12 percent of the total population, reported only Black or African

American. An additional 1.8 million

people reported Black or African

American and at least one other

race. Within this group, the most

common OMB combinations were

“Black or African American and

White” (45 percent of the population reporting Black or African

American and one or more other

races), followed by “Black or

African American and American

Indian and Alaska Native” (10 percent), and “Black or African

American and White and American

Indian and Alaska Native” (6 percent). Approximately 36.4 million

people, or 13 percent of the population, reported Black or African

Table 3.

Responses to the Question on Race by the Alone orin

Combination Categories for the United States: 2000

Race Number of

responses

Responses

as percent

of total

population

Responses

as percent

of total

responses

All race categories alone or in combination

with one or more other races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288,764,438 102.6 100.0

White alone or in combination . . . . . . . . . . . . 216,930,975 77.1 75.1

Black or African American alone or in

combination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36,419,434 12.9 12.6

American Indian and Alaska Native alone

or in combination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,119,301 1.5 1.4

Asian alone or in combination. . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,898,828 4.2 4.1

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific

Islander alone or in combination . . . . . . . . . 874,414 0.3 0.3

Some other race alone or in combination. . . 18,521,486 6.6 6.4

Note: The total population is equal to the number of respondents. In Census 2000, there

were 281,421,906 respondents. The total of all race categories alone or in combination with

one or more other races is equal to the number of responses; therefore, it adds to more than

the total population.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Redistricting (Public Law 94-171) Summary

File, Table PL1.

Table 4.

White Population forthe United States: 2000

Race Number

Percent of total

population

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

White alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211,460,626 75.1

White in combination with one or more other races . . . . 5,470,349 1.9

White; American Indian and Alaska Native . . . . . . . . . . 1,082,683 0.4

White; Asian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 868,395 0.3

White; Black or African American . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 784,764 0.3

White; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. . . 112,964 -

All other combinations including White . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,621,543 0.9

White alone or in combination with one or more other

races. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216,930,975 77.1

- Percentage rounds to 0.0.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Redistricting (Public Law 94-171) Summary

File, Table PL1.
8 U.S. Census Bureau

American alone or in combination

with one or more other races.

The American Indian and

Alaska Native Population

Table 6 shows the number and percentage of respondents to Census

2000 who reported only American

Indian and Alaska Native, as well as

those who reported American

Indian and Alaska Native and at

least one other race.

Approximately 2.5 million people,

or 0.9 percent of the total population, reported only American Indian

and Alaska Native. An additional

1.6 million people reported

American Indian and Alaska Native

and at least one other race. Within

this group, the most common OMB

combinations were “American

Indian and Alaska Native and

White” (66 percent of the population reporting American Indian and

Alaska Native and one or more

other races), followed by “American

Indian and Alaska Native and Black

or African American” (11 percent),

and “American Indian and Alaska

Native and White and Black or

African American” (7 percent). Approximately 4.1 million people, or

1.5 percent of the population, reported American Indian and Alaska

Native alone or in combination with

one or more other races.8

The Asian Population

Table 7 shows the number and percentage of respondents to Census

2000 who reported only Asian, as

well as those who reported Asian

and at least one other race.

Approximately 10.2 million

people, or 3.6 percent of the total

population, reported only Asian.

An additional 1.7 million people

reported Asian and at least one

other race. Within this group, the

most common OMB combinations

were “Asian and White” (52 percent

of the population reporting Asian

and one or more other races), followed by “Asian and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander”

(8 percent), and “Asian and Black

or African American” (6 percent).

Approximately 11.9 million people,

or 4.2 percent of the population,

reported Asian alone or in combination with one or more other

races.9

Table 6.

American Indian and Alaska Native Population for the United

States: 2000

Race Number

Percent of total

population

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

American Indian and Alaska Native alone. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,475,956 0.9

American Indian and Alaska Native in combination with

one or more other races. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,643,345 0.6

American Indian and Alaska Native; White . . . . . . . . . . 1,082,683 0.4

American Indian and Alaska Native; Black or African

American . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182,494 0.1

American Indian and Alaska Native; White; Black or

African American . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112,207 -

American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian . . . . . . . . . . 52,429 -

All other combinations including American Indian and

Alaska Native . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213,532 0.1

American Indian and Alaska Native alone or in

combination with one or more other races . . . . . . . . . . . 4,119,301 1.5

- Percentage rounds to 0.0.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Redistricting (Public Law 94-171) Summary

File, Table PL1.

8 The size of the American Indian and

Alaska Native population – alone or in combination – is just one dimension of this population covered by Census 2000. The wide diversity of the specific American Indian and Alaska

Native populations delineated by Census 2000

will be discussed in a future report.

Table 5.

Black or AfricanAmerican Population for the United States:

2000

Race Number

Percent of total

population

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

Black or African American alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,658,190 12.3

Black or African American in combination with one or

more other races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,761,244 0.6

Black or African American; White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 784,764 0.3

Black or African American; American Indian and

Alaska Native . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182,494 0.1

Black or African American; White; American Indian

and Alaska Native . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112,207 -

Black or African American; Asian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106,782 -

All other combinations including Black or African

American . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574,997 0.2

Black or African American alone or in combination with

one or more other races. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36,419,434 12.9

- Percentage rounds to 0.0.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Redistricting (Public Law 94-171) Summary

File, Table PL1.

9 The size of the Asian population — alone

or in combination — is just one dimension of

this population covered by Census 2000. The

wide diversity of the specific Asian populations delineated by Census 2000 will be discussed in a future report.
U.S. Census Bureau 9

The Native Hawaiian and Other

Pacific Islander Population

Table 8 shows the number and

percentage of respondents to Census 2000 who reported only Native

Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander,

as well as those who reported

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific

Islander and at least one other

race.

Approximately 399,000 people, or

0.1 percent of the total population,

reported only Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander. An additional

476,000 people reported Native

Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander

and at least one other race.10

Within this group, the most common combinations were “Native

Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander

and Asian” (29 percent of the

population reporting Native

Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander

and one or more other races), followed by “Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander and White”

(24 percent), and “Native Hawaiian

and Other Pacific Islander and

Asian and White” (19 percent). Approximately 874,000 people, or

0.3 percent of the population,

reported Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander alone or in

combination with one or more

other races.

The Some Other Race

Population

Table 9 shows the number and

percentage of respondents to Census 2000 who reported only Some

other race, as well as those who

reported Some other race and at

least one other race.

Table 7.

Asian Population forthe United States: 2000

Race Number

Percent of total

population

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

Asian alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,242,998 3.6

Asian in combination with one or more other races . . . . 1,655,830 0.6

Asian; White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 868,395 0.3

Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander . . . 138,802 -

Asian; Black or African American . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106,782 -

Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander;

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89,611 -

All other combinations including Asian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452,240 0.2

Asian alone or in combination with one or more other

races. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,898,828 4.2

- Percentage rounds to 0.0.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Redistricting (Public Law 94-171) Summary

File, Table PL1.

Table 8.

Native Hawaiian and OtherPacific IslanderPopulation forthe

United States: 2000

Race Number

Percent of total

population

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

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone . . . . . 398,835 0.1

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander in

combination with one or more other races . . . . . . . . . . . 475,579 0.2

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Asian . . . 138,802 -

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; White. . . 112,964 -

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Asian;

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89,611 -

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander; Black or

African American . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,876 -

All other combinations including Native Hawaiian

and Other Pacific Islander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104,326 -

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone or in

combination with one or more other races . . . . . . . . . . . 874,414 0.3

- Percentage rounds to 0.0.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Redistricting (Public Law 94-171) Summary

File, Table PL1.

10 The size of the Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander population — alone or in

combination — is just one dimension of this

population covered by Census 2000. The

wide diversity of the specific Native Hawaiian

and Other Pacific Islander populations delineated by Census 2000 will be discussed in a

future report.

Table 9.

Some OtherRace Population forthe United States: 2000

Race Number

Percent of total

population

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

Some other race alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,359,073 5.5

Some other race in combination with one or more

other races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,162,413 1.1

Some other race; White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,206,251 0.8

Some other race; Black or African American . . . . . . . . 417,249 0.1

Some other race; Asian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249,108 0.1

Some other race; American Indian and Alaska

Native . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93,842 -

All other combinations including Some other race . . . 195,963 0.1

Some other race alone or in combination with one or

more other races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,521,486 6.6

- Percentage rounds to 0.0.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Redistricting (Public Law 94-171) Summary

File, Table PL1.
10 U.S. Census Bureau

Approximately 15.4 million people,

or about 5 percent of the total

population, reported only Some

other race. An additional 3.2 million people reported Some other

race and at least one other race.

Within this group, the most common combinations were “Some

other race and White” (70 percent

of the population reporting Some

other race and one or more other

races), followed by “Some other

race and Black or African

American” (13 percent), and “Some

other race and Asian” (8 percent).

Approximately 18.5 million people,

or 7 percent of the total population, reported Some other race

alone or in combination with one

or more other races.

HISPANIC ORIGIN BY RACE

IN CENSUS 2000

Nine out of ten Hispanics

reported White alone or Some

other race alone.

Nearly half (48 percent) of

Hispanics reported only White,

while approximately 42 percent

reported only Some other race,

when responding to the question

on race (see Table 10). Less than

4 percent of Latinos reported Black

or African American alone,

American Indian and Alaska Native

alone, Asian alone, or Native

Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander

alone. In contrast, 79 percent of

the non-Hispanic population reported only White and 0.2 percent

reported only Some other race.

About 19 percent of all nonHispanics reported only one of the

remaining race categories. Of all

race and Hispanic origin combinations, the group reporting as only

White and non-Hispanic was the

largest, representing 69 percent of

the total population.

Approximately 6 percent of all

Hispanics reported two or more

races, compared with just under

2 percent of non-Hispanics. Among

the 2.2 million Latinos who reported

more than one race, 1.8 million

(81 percent) reported only two

races, one of which was Some other

race. Of the 6.8 million respondents

reporting two or more races, nearly

one-third (2.2 million or 33 percent)

were Hispanic.

Table 10.

Hispanic and Not Hispanic Population by Race forthe United States: 2000

Race

Hispanic or Latino Not Hispanic or Latino

Number

Percent of

Hispanic

population

Percent

of total

population Number

Percent of

non-Hispanic

population

Percent

of total

population

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,305,818 100.0 12.5 246,116,088 100.0 87.5

One race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,081,736 93.7 11.8 241,513,942 98.1 85.8

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,907,852 47.9 6.0 194,552,774 79.1 69.1

Black or African American . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 710,353 2.0 0.3 33,947,837 13.8 12.1

American Indian and Alaska Native . . . . . . . 407,073 1.2 0.1 2,068,883 0.8 0.7

Asian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119,829 0.3 - 10,123,169 4.1 3.6

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific

Islander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,326 0.1 - 353,509 0.1 0.1

Some other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,891,303 42.2 5.3 467,770 0.2 0.2

Two or more races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,224,082 6.3 0.8 4,602,146 1.9 1.6

- Percentage rounds to 0.0.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Redistricting (Public Law 94-171) Summary File, Tables PL1 and PL2.

Table 11.

Some OtherRace Population by Hispanic Origin forthe United States: 2000

Hispanic or Latino

Some other race alone

Some other race in

combination with one

or more other races

Some other race alone or

in combination with one

or more other races

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,359,073 100.0 3,162,413 100.0 18,521,486 100.00

Hispanic or Latino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,891,303 97.0 1,859,538 58.8 16,750,841 90.4

Not Hispanic or Latino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467,770 3.0 1,302,875 41.2 1,770,645 9.6

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Redistricting (Public Law 94-171) Summary File, Tables PL1 and PL2.
U.S. Census Bureau 11

The overwhelming majority

(97 percent) of the 15.4 million

people who reported Some other

race alone were Latino, while the

remaining 3 percent were not

Hispanic (see Table 11). However,

of all combinations of two or more

races that included Some other

race, only 59 percent were

Hispanic. A large majority (90 percent) of the Some other race alone

or in combination population was

also Hispanic.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information on race in

the United States, visit the U.S.

Census Bureau’s Internet site at

www.census.gov/population/www/

socdemo/race.html. For more information on Hispanic origin, visit

www.census.gov/population/www/

socdemo/hispanic.html.

Race and Hispanic origin data from

the Census 2000 Redistricting

(Public Law 94-171) Summary File

are being released on a state-bystate basis during March 2001.

The Census 2000 Redistricting

data are available on the Internet

via factfinder.census.gov and for

purchase on CD-ROM and eventually on DVD. For information on

confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error,

and definitions, also see

factfinder.census.gov.

For more information on specific

race and Hispanic origin 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 the social and economic

characteristics of the Black or

African American, American Indian

and Alaska Native, Asian, Native

Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and Hispanic origin populations.

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.