Hispanic population is surging, even in Hawai‘i

As Hispanic Heritage Month 2007 approaches – observed from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 – it’s interesting to take stock of the growing proportion of the population that traces its roots back to Spain, Mexico and Spanish-speaking South and Central America. Here’s a report card, by the numbers: 

8 percent

The percentage of Hawai‘i’s population of Hispanic or Latino origin in 2005 up from 7.2 percent in 2000 – a 10 percent increase in five years.

44.3 million

The estimated Hispanic population of the U.S. of July 1, 2006, making people of Hispanic origin the nation’s largest ethnic or race minority with 15 percent of the nation’s total population, not including the 3.9 million residents of Puerto Rico.

About 1

. . . of every two people added to the nation’s population in the year ending July 1, 2006, was Hispanic – there were 1.4 million Hispanics added to the population over the period.

3.4 percent

The annual percentage increase in the Hispanic population as of July 1, 2006, making Hispanics the fastest-growing minority group.

102.6 million              

The projected Hispanic population of the United States as of July 1, 2050 – 24 percent of the nation’s total population by that date.

3rd

The U.S. Hispanic population’s worldwide ranking, as of 2005. Only Mexico (106.2 million) and Colombia (43 million) had larger Hispanic populations than the U.S. (42.7 million). Spain had a population of 40.3 million.

64 percent

The percentage of Hispanic-origin people in U.S. households who are of Mexican background. Another 9 percent are from Puerto Rico, 3.5 percent from Cuba, 3 percent from El Salvador and 2.7 percent from the Dominican Republic.

27.4 years

The median age of the Hispanic population in 2006. This compares with 36.4 years for the population as a whole.

107

The number of Hispanic males per every 100 Hispanic females in the U.S. in 2006. This was in sharp contrast to the overall population, which had 97 males per every 100 females. 

48 percent                                          

The percentage of the Hispanic-origin population that lives in California or Texas. California is home to 13.1 million Hispanics, and Texas is home to 8.4 million.

4.7 million

The Hispanic population of Los Angeles County, Calif. — the largest of any county in the nation.