1 U.S. Census Bureau 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 isadministered. New technologies emerge and change the way the U.S. Census Bureau collects andprocesses data. More importantly, changing lifestyles and emerging sensitivities among the people of the United States necessitate modifications to the questions that areasked. One of the most important changes for Census 2000 was the revision of the questions on race andHispanic origin to better reflect the country’s growing diversity.

This report, part of a series that analyzes population and housing data collectedfrom Census 2000, provides a portrait of race and Hispanic origin in theUnited 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 thefirst 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 respondentsto 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. Forthe 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 severalways. 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 fromthe 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 federalstandards 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 usea minimum of two ethnicities: “Hispanic or Latino” and “Not Hispanic or Latino.”

Starting with Census 2000, the OMB requires federal agencies touse 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 (includingCentral 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 Indianand 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.3 U.S. Census Bureau • White;
• Black or African American;
• American Indian or Alaska Native;
• Asian; and

• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.

For respondents unable to identifywith 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 fewother 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 raceincluded 15 separate response categories and three areas where respondents could write in a more specific race group (see Figure 1). Theresponse 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 (seeTable 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 alonepopulation, or the group that reported 4 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 onerace. All respondents who indicatedmore than one race can be collapsed into the Two or more races category, which combined with the six alonecategories, 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 largestgroup 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 under1 percent of all respondents indicated only American Indian and Alaska Native. Approximately4 percent of all respondents indicated only Asian. The smallest race group was the Native Hawaiian andOther 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 usedto 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.5 U.S. Census Bureau Only 2.4 percent of all respondents reported two or

more races. The Two or more races categoryrepresents all respondents who reported more than one race. The six race categories of Census 2000 canbe put together in 57 possible combinations of two, three, four, five, or six races (see Table 2). Less than3 percent of the total population reported more than one race. Of the6.8 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 andAsian,” 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 usein civil rights monitoring and enforcement. These guidelinesincluded 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 Someother 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 Allocationof 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 combinationgroup 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.” Anotherway 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 isalso 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 combinationcategories are tallies of responses rather than respondents . That is, the alone or in combination categoriesare 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. Forexample, 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 theWhite alone or in combination category as well as in the Black orAfrican 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 orAfrican American alone or in combination group, which represented 13 percent of the total population, and the Some other race alone or incombination 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 incombination 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 racepopulations. Numbers and percentages are presented in three ways: (1) for the race alonecategory, (2) for the race in combination category, and (3) for therace alone or in combination category.7 U.S. Census Bureau With the exception of the section on the Some other race population, each of the following discussions isrestricted to the five race categories defined by the Office of Management and Budget. Within thetables 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 andpercentage 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. Anadditional 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 AfricanAmerican” (14 percent). Approximately 216.9 million people, or77 percent of the population, reported White alone or in combination with one or more other races.

The Black or African American PopulationTable 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 andWhite” (45 percent of the population reporting Black or African American and one or more other races), followed by “Black or African American and AmericanIndian and Alaska Native” (10 percent), and “Black or African American and White and AmericanIndian and Alaska Native” (6 percent). Approximately 36.4 millionpeople, 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 PopulationTable 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 andWhite” (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 orAfrican American” (7 percent). Approximately 4.1 million people, or1.5 percent of the population, reported American Indian and Alaska Native alone or in combination with one or more other races. 8

The Asian PopulationTable 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 Asianand one or more other races), followed by “Asian andNative 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 andAlaska 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. Thewide diversity of the specific Asian populations delineated by Census 2000 will be discussed in a future report.9 U.S. Census Bureau The Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Population
Table 8 shows the number andpercentage 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. 10Within 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 Islanderand 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 andWhite” (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 andpercentage 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 Hawaiianand 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 Someother 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 ofthe 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 allrace 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 PL2.11 U.S. Census Bureau 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 wereHispanic. 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 Fileare 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 forpurchase on CD-ROM and eventually on DVD. For information onconfidentiality 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 basedon past censuses and surveys focusing on the social and economic characteristics of the Black or African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, NativeHawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and Hispanic origin populations.
Information on other populationand 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, andother social, economic, and housing characteristics.

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