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2010 AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS

Education

There were significant increases in educational attainment between 2009 and 2010, continuing a long 

term trend. The percent of those 25 and older who completed high school increased from 85.3 percent

to 85.6 percent and the percent with at least a bachelor’s degree increased from 27.9 percent to 28.2 

percent. There was also a small increase in the percent with a graduate or professional degree, from 

10.3 percent to 10.4 percent.

In 2010, the percent of individuals 25 and older with at least a bachelor’s degree ranged from 17.5 

percent in West Virginia to 39.0 percent in Massachusetts. In six states more than one-third of those 25 

and over had a bachelor’s degree, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and 

Virginia. In the District of Columbia 50.1 percent of adults 25 and over have at least a bachelor’s degree.

Employment Status

Although the recession was officially over by mid-2009, the nation’s employment/population ratio 

continued to decline between 2009 and 2010, dropping from 68.2 to 66.6 — a decline of 1.6 percentage 

points. However, this decline was smaller than the 3.3 percentage point decline experienced between 

2008 and 2009. The majority of the 50 largest metropolitan areas (43) experienced declining 

employment/population ratios between 2009 and 2010. However, similar to the national experience, 

most (30) saw a significantly smaller employment/population ratio decrease between 2009 and 2010 

compared with the declines experienced between 2008 and 2009. 

Foreign Born

In 2010, 309.3 million people lived in the United States, including 40.0 million foreign born (12.9 percent 

of the total population). The foreign-born population living in the United States increased by 1.4 million 

(0.4 percentage points) since 2009. 

Over half (53.1 percent) of all foreign-born U.S. residents in 2010 were from Latin America – unchanged 

since 2009. The foreign born from Asia increased 0.6 percentage points since 2009, representing 28.2 

percent of all foreign born in 2010. The next largest world region-of-birth group, the foreign born from 

Europe, represented 12.1 percent of all foreign born in 2010 – less than half the size of the foreign born 

from Asia. The foreign born from Europe was the region-of-birth group with the largest decrease (0.6 

percentage points) since 2009. About 4.0 percent of the foreign born were born in Africa, an increase of 

0.1 percentage point since 2009. In 2010, 2.6 percent of the foreign born were born in other regions, 

including Oceania and Northern America, decreasing 0.1 percentage point since 2009. The single largest 

country-of-birth group in 2010, Mexico (29 percent of all foreign born), decreased 0.5 percentage points 

since 2009.

Although the foreign born from Latin America were found across the country, most were concentrated 

in only a few states. In 2010, 26 percent (or 5.5 million) of the foreign born from Latin America lived in 

California, 14 percent (or 3.0 million) in Texas, 13 percent (or 2.8 million) in Florida, and 10 percent (or 
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2.2 million) in New York. When combined, these four states accounted for 63 percent (or 13.4 million) 

of the total Latin American foreign born. 

In Florida and New Mexico, approximately 75 percent of the foreign-born population were born in Latin 

America. In just nine states, the foreign-born population from Latin America represented less than 25 

percent of the foreign-born population. In Maine and North Dakota, they were approximately 10 

percent. In Hawaii, they were less than 10 percent. 

In 2010, 32 percent of the foreign-born population from Latin America were naturalized citizens. 

Geographical Mobility

In 2010, 14.8 percent of the population 1 year and over lived in a different house from their residence 1 

year ago, 9.4 percent of the population moved within the same county and 5.4 percent moved from a 

different county. The percent who moved in the U.S. was not statistically different at the 90 percent 

confidence level from the 2009 estimate (14.9 percent).

Health Insurance Coverage

Massachusetts had among the highest rates of employer-based health insurance coverage for both 

people who worked full time, year round and those who worked less than full time, year round in 2010 

(86.4 and 62.6 percent, respectively). New Mexico, on the other hand, had among the lowest rates for 

both groups (67.8 and 39.0 percent, respectively).

Household Income

Real median household income in the United States fell between the 2009 ACS and the 2010 ACS 

decreasing by 2.2 percent from $51,190 to $50,046.

Between the 2009 ACS and the 2010 ACS, no state showed an increase in real median household 

income. Real median household income decreased between the 2009 ACS and the 2010 ACS in 35 

states. Texas was among the smallest decreases (1.0 percent) while Nevada, Connecticut and Vermont 

were among the largest decreases (6.1 percent). For 15 states and the District of Columbia, real median 

household income in the 2010 ACS was not statistically different from that in the 2009 ACS. 

Household Type, Marital Status, and Fertility

Between 2009 and 2010, there was a significant increase in the percent of women 15 and over who 

were never married, from 28.6 percent to 29.0 percent. In addition, the percent of births occurring to 

unmarried women increased from 35.2 percent to 36.0 percent while the percent of families with a 

female householder and no husband present increased from 12.7 percent to 13.1 percent.

In 2010, the percent of women 15 and over who were never married ranged from 20.7 percent in

Wyoming to 34.8 percent in New York. New York was one of seven states where the percent of never 

married women exceeded 30 percent. The other six states were California, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, 
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Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. In the District of Columbia 55.8 percent of women 15 and over were 

never married.

In 2010, the percent of multigenerational households ranged from 1.1 percent in North Dakota to 7.2 

percent in Hawaii. The national average for multigenerational households was 3.8 percent.

Housing

Real median home value fell for the second consecutive year from $185,200 in 2009 to $179,900 in 

2010. Four states, California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and New Jersey and the District of Columbia had a 

median home value over $300,000, while four states had a median value under $120,000, Arkansas, 

Mississippi, Oklahoma, and West Virginia.

Industry

From 2009 to 2010, the nation’s industrial composition changed in some notable ways. For instance, 

the share of the civilian employed population 16 years and over employed in the Construction industry 

decreased 8.8 percent, while the share employed in the Educational services, healthcare, and social 

assistance industry increased 2.2 percent.

Place of Birth

According to the 2010 ACS, the native population living in the U.S. is 269,393,835. Of that population, 

67.5 percent live in their state of birth. Another 31.0 percent live in a different state of birth. The 

remaining 1.6 percent were born in Puerto Rico, U.S. Island Areas, or born abroad to American parent or 

parents. The foreign born population in the U.S. is 39,955,854.

Louisiana, New York, and Michigan had the highest percentage of the native population born in state of 

residence and were the only states with rates above 81 percent.

Place of Work/Journey to Work

The percentage of workers 16 years and over who drove alone to work increased from 76.1 percent in 

2009 to 76.6 percent in 2010. The percentage who carpooled decreased from 10.0 percent to 9.7 

percent, the percentage who took public transportation decreased from 5.0 percent to 4.9 percent, and 

the percentage that took other means was 1.7 percent in both 2009 and 2010. Walked to work was 2.8 

percent and worked at home was 4.3 percent.

Of the 2,327,228 workers (1.7 percent of all workers) who took other means, 731,286 rode a bicycle to 

work (down from 765,703 in 2009); 266,777 rode a motorcycle to work (down from 294,124); 151,247 

took a taxicab to work; and 1,177,918 took some other mode of transportation.

The mean travel time to work also increased from 25.1 minutes to 25.3 minutes.

Virginia had the highest percentage of workers who worked outside their county of residence (51.3 

percent) followed by Maryland (47.0 percent), New Jersey (45.7 percent), and Georgia (41.6 percent).
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Mean Travel Time was highest for Maryland (31.8 minutes) and then New York (31.3 minutes). North 

Dakota had the lowest mean travel times (16.1) followed by South Dakota (16.8).

Poverty

In 2010, the individual poverty rate ranged from 8.3 percent in New Hampshire to 22.4 percent in 

Mississippi. 

Veteran Status

In 2010, 9.3 percent of the civilian population 18 years and older were veterans of the Armed Forces, 

compared to 9.5 percent in 2009.