U.S. births fueled much of the Hispanic population boom in the county and nation, creating a new wave of potential future leaders, business professionals and homeowners.While the latest census data gives a numerical look at this ethnic population, demographers said the real story lies in what those figures mean to other segments of the population.
“This is a demographic trend that is reconfiguring the nation, but it’s not just about the demographics,” said Esther Aguilera, president and CEO of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, an educational program that provides internships and fellowships. “It’s reconfiguring the economy, society and our workforce.”Hispanics accounted for more than half of the nation’s growth in the past decade, according to the Census Bureau.
They now make up 16.3 percent of the population, up from 14 percent in 2000.
In San Diego County, the Hispanic population increased from 27 percent to 32 percent during the same period.A connection must be made between aging baby boomers, who are mostly non-Hispanic whites, and the school-age crowd, which is greatly Hispanic, said Dowell Myers, a professor of urban planning and demography at the University of Southern California and author of the book “Immigrants and Boomers: Forging a New Social Contract for the Future of America.”
Essentially, the youngsters need baby boomers’ political and tax clout to boost educational resources, and then in 10 to 20 years the boomers will need those children to support them by sustaining the economy, said John Weeks, director of San Diego State University’s International Population Center.
“The most important thing is to get kids well-educated so that we have an excellent labor market,” Weeks said.
It is not just experts who express concern about reduced education funding.
“We see things going on at the state level with cutbacks,” said William Greenwald, an officer for the San Diego chapter of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs. His wife is studying to be a teacher.
“How does this affect the teachers who are teaching my children?” Greenwald asked. “I think our children will be prepared, but it worries me on a whole for San Diego County.”
Greenwald and his wife, who is from Mexico, moved from Orange County to Chula Vista in 2002 with one child in tow. They have since bought a home and had another child.
Among the two dozen counties along the U.S.-Mexico border, San Diego has been one of the few without a Hispanic majority. Established early on as a military hub, it did not offer many entry-level economic opportunities to immigrants, Weeks said. Immigrants tended to skip the area for magnets such as Los Angeles, Chicago and California’s Central Valley.
Weeks said the trend is changing. Although some new immigrants still push past San Diego, many Hispanics are settling here, buying homes and having children.
Liza Bolaños, 29, moved from Visalia last year for a San Diego State graduate program in marriage and family therapy that focuses on multiculturalism.
After several months at SDSU, Bolaños, the U.S.-born daughter of Mexican immigrants, used the website meetup.com to co-found the group Young Latinos of San Diego. Bolaños, who owns a home in Visalia and rents in South Park, wanted to meet others with similar cultural interests.
The group has 70 members so far.
“As a young professional, I want to continue to have that connection,” Bolaños said. “One third of the (county’s) population is Latino and that is really validating.”
Another piece of the trend is Hispanic suburbanization, Weeks said. To him, that means more children growing up in suburban homes, more intact families and lower dropout rates.
Hispanics are “becoming more a part of the mainstream,” he said. “That is what other immigrant groups have done in the past.”
Tito Zamolloa, 43, who as a teenager immigrated from Peru to the Los Angeles area, moved to this region with his Mexican-American wife. They bought a house in Carlsbad and expanded their family with the birth of their son, Diego.
“It’s a bit more settled here,” Zamolloa said. “I’m not surprised by the growth, but I wish it was more spread out. I’d like to see Latinos in more of North County.”
*HISPANICS' GROWING INFLUENCE IN SAN DIEGO
376,020 in county are Latino; on average they are younger than other racial groups, tend to be in prime working, childbearing years
*EDUCATIONAL ENROLLMENT
Nearly one-third of Hispanics in the county are younger than 18.
This large segment of youths and their future place in society as workers, homeowners and entrepreneurs should push political leaders to improve education and increase other opportunities, said Esther Aguilera, president and CEO of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, which provides internships and fellowships for Hispanics.
Forty-five percent of children ages 5 to 17 in San Diego County last year were Hispanic, according to the census.
*LARGEST HISPANIC POPULATIONS IN U.S.
New York 2.3 million
Los Angeles 1.8 million
Houston 919,668
San Antonio 838,952
Chicago 778,862
Phoenix 589,877
El Paso, Texas 523,721
Dallas 507,309
San Diego 376,020
San Jose 313,636
*PLACE OF BIRTH
The increase in Hispanics between 2000 and 2010 was largely driven by internal growth — as in more babies born in this country, said demographer John Weeks at San Diego State University.
Immigration was also a factor, but not as large a contributor as it was in previous decades.
Experts said that on average, Hispanics are younger than other racial and ethnic groups, and tended to be in their prime working and childbearing years.
In 2009, the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey showed that 61.3 percent of Hispanics in the county said they were born in the U.S.
*ANCESTRY
While the largest block of the county’s Hispanic population claimed Mexican ancestry last year — about 87.7 percent — the Central and South American populations nearly doubled in percentage during the past decade.
The fastest-growing segment was from Guatemala, which saw an increase of 116 percent (3,375 to 7,305 residents).
In North County, a burgeoning group of Guatemalans celebrates a special Mass once a month at San Rafael Parish in Rancho Bernardo. It’s also planning a Guatemalan festival in Fallbrook for next Saturday, said coordinator Luis Juarez, who immigrated from Guatemala in 2005.
• Central American: grew from 11,539 in 2000 to 22,187 last year
• South American: increased from 8,823 in 2000 to 17,491 last year
*HOMEOWNERS' AGE RANGE
Among Hispanics in the county, 40 percent owned homes last year, compared to 39 percent in 2000. The region’s overall homeownership rate is 54.4 percent.
Experts blame the housing bust for the near stagnant rate among Hispanics, saying that many of them who bought in during the decade lost those homes to foreclosures caused by various reasons, said Luis Mendoza, president of the San Diego chapter of the National Hispanic Organization of Real Estate Associates.
Nearly every age group of Hispanics lost footing in homeownership during the past decade except for the 15 to 24 category, which saw a slight increase.
Among all racial groups, non-Hispanic whites had the highest ownership rate. Asians ranked second in all groups except the 85-plus category, with Latinos third and African-Americans fourth.
Hispanic population tops 50 million in U.S.
The Hispanic population in the United States grew by 43% in the last decade, surpassing 50 million and accounting for about 1 out of 6 Americans, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.Analysts seized on data showing that the growth was propelled by a surge in births in the U.S., rather than immigration, pointing to a growing generational shift in which Hispanics continue to gain political clout and, by 2050, could make up a third of the U.S. population.
"In the adult population, many immigrants helped the increase, but the child population is increasingly more Hispanic," said D'Vera Cohn, a senior writer at the Pew Research Center.In 2010, Hispanics made up 23% of people under the age 18, compared with 17% in 2000. In California, 51% of children are Hispanic, up from 44% in 2000.Overall, Hispanics accounted for more than half of the 27.3 million U.S. population increase since 2000.About 75% of Hispanics live in the nine states that have long-standing Hispanic populations — Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York and Texas.
That figure is down from 81% in 2000, indicating the population has begun dispersing to other parts of the country, particularly in the Southeast, Cohn said.New Mexico has the largest percentage of Hispanic residents (46.3%), followed by Texas and California (37.6%).The Hispanic population more than doubled in Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, South Carolina and North Carolina.
"This is a sign that the Hispanic population is spreading out more widely than in the past," Cohn said. "You now see Hispanic communities in many places that hadn't had them a decade or two ago."The population growth among Hispanics also kept the population steady in states that would have shown a decline or no growth, including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Louisiana.
The non-Hispanic population grew at a slower pace in the last decade, at about 5%. Within that population, those who reported their race as only white grew by 1%.While the population of those who reported only as white grew in number in that time, from 196.6 million to 196.8 million, its proportion of the total U.S. population declined to 64% from 69%.As in the 2000 census, individuals were asked to identify their ethnic or racial background. As guidance, the Census Bureau said the term Hispanic refers to people who trace the origin of their parents or ancestors to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Spanish-speaking Central and South America countries and other Spanish cultures.
A 2008 Census Bureau projection estimated that ethnic and racial minorities will become the majority in the United States by 2050 and that about 1 in 3 U.S. residents will be Hispanic by then."Our country is becoming racially and ethnically more diverse over time, as is clear in the growth rates of minority populations," said Robert Groves, director of the Census Bureau.
48.4 million million
The estimated Hispanic population of the United States as of July 1, 2009, making people of Hispanic origin the nation's largest ethnic or race minority. Hispanics constituted 16 percent of the nation's total population. In addition, there are approximately 4 million residents of Puerto Rico, a Carribbean U.S. territory.
More than 1
. . . of every two people added to the nation's population between July 1, 2008, and July 1, 2009, was Hispanic. There were 1.4 million Hispanics added to the population during the period.
3.1%
Percentage increase in the Hispanic population between July 1, 2008, and July 1, 2009, making Hispanics the fastest-growing minority group.
132.8 million
The projected Hispanic population of the United States on July 1, 2050. According to this projection, Hispanics will constitute 30% of the nation's population by that date.
22.4 million
The nation’s Hispanic population during the 1990 Census—less than half the current total.
2nd
Ranking of the size of the U.S. Hispanic population worldwide, as of 2009. Only Mexico (111 million) had a larger Hispanic population than the United States (48.4 million).
66%
The percentage of Hispanic-origin people in the United States who were of Mexican background in 2008. Another 9 percent were of Puerto Rican background, with 3.4 percent Cuban, 3.4 percent Salvadoran and 2.8 percent Dominican. The remainder was of some other Central American, South American or other Hispanic or Latino origin.
About About 44 percent of the nation's Dominicans lived in New York City in 2008 and about half of the nation's Cubans in Miami-Dade County, Fla.
26%
Percentage of children younger than 5 who were Hispanic in 2009. All in all, Hispanics comprised 22 percent of children younger than 18.
27.4 years
Median age of the Hispanic population in 2009. This compared with 36.8 years for the population as a whole.
107
Number of Hispanic males in 2009 per every 100 Hispanic females. This was in sharp contrast to the overall population, which had 97 males per every 100 females.
States and Counties
47%
The percentage of the Hispanic-origin population that lived in California or Texas in 2009. California was home to 13.7 million Hispanics, and Texas was home to 9.1 million.
16
The number of states with at least a half-million Hispanic residents–Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
47%
The percentage of New Mexico's population that was Hispanic in 2009, the highest of any state. Hispanics also made up at least one fifth of the population in California and Texas, at 37 percent each, followed by Arizona (31 percent), Nevada (26 percent), Florida (22 percent) and Colorado (20 percent). New Mexico had 916,000 Hispanics.
6.6%
The percentage increase in the Hispanic population in Alabama between July 1, 2008, and July 1, 2009, which led all states.
4.7 million
The Hispanic population of Los Angeles County, Calif., in 2009 — the largest of any county in the nation. Los Angeles County also had the biggest numerical increase in the Hispanic population (78,000) since July 2008.
97%
Proportion of the population of Starr County, Texas, that was Hispanic as of 2009, which led the nation. All of the top 10 counties in this category were in Texas.
50
Number of the nation's 3,143 counties that were majority-Hispanic.
312,000
The increase in California's Hispanic population between July 1, 2008, and July 1, 2009, which led all states. Texas (300,000) and Florida (105,000) also recorded large increases.
21
Number of states in which Hispanics were the largest minority group. These states were Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming.
Businesses
2.3 million
The number of Hispanic-owned businesses in 2007, up 43.6 percent from 2002.
$345.2 billion
Receipts generated by Hispanic-owned businesses in 2007, up 55.5 percent from 2002.
23.6%
The percentage of businesses in New Mexico in 2007 that was Hispanic-owned, which led all states. Florida (22.4 percent) and Texas (20.7 percent) were runners-up.
30%
Percentage of Hispanic-owned businesses in the construction and the other services sectors; 50.7 percent of the receipts of these businesses were concentrated in wholesale trade, construction and retail trade.
Families and Children
10.5 million
The number of Hispanic family households in the United States in 2009. Of these households, 61 percent included children younger than 18.
66%
The percentage of Hispanic family households consisting of a married couple.
41%
The percentage of Hispanic family households consisting of a married couple with children younger than 18.
69%
Percentage of Hispanic children living with two married parents.
27%
The percentage of Percentage of stay-at-home mothers who were Hispanic. In contrast, 16 percent of all other mothers were Hispanic.
43%
Percentage of Hispanic married couples with children under 18 where both spouses were employed in 2009, down from 50 percent in 2007, prior to the start of the recession.
Spanish Language
35 million
The number of U.S. residents 5 and older who spoke Spanish at home in 2008. Those who hablan español constituted 12% of U.S. residents. More than half of these Spanish speakers spoke English "very well."
4
Number of states where at least one-in-five residents spoke Spanish at home in 2007–Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas.
76%
Percentage of Hispanics 5 and older who speak Spanish at home.
Income, Poverty and Health Insurance
$37,913
The median income of Hispanic households in 2008, down 5.6 percent from the previous year after adjusting for inflation.
23.2%
The poverty rate among Hispanics in 2008, up from 21.5 percent in 2007.
30.7%
The percentage of Hispanics who lacked health insurance in 2008, down from 32.1 percent in 2007.
Education
62%
The percentage of Hispanics 25 and older that had at least a high school education in 2009.
13%
The percentage of the Hispanic population 25 and older with a bachelor's degree or higher in 2009.
3.7 million
The number of Hispanics 18 and older who had at least a bachelor's degree in 2009.
935,000
Number of Hispanics 25 and older with advanced degrees in 2009 (e.g., master's, professional, doctorate).
12%
Percentage of full-time college students (both undergraduate and graduate students) in October 2008 who were Hispanic.
20%
Percentage of elementary and high school students combined that was Hispanic.
Names
4
The number of Hispanic surnames ranked among the 15 most common in 2000. It was the first time that a Hispanic surname reached the top 15 during a census. Garcia was the most frequent Hispanic surname, occurring 858,289 times and placing eighth on the list – up from 18th in 1990. Rodriguez (ninth), Martinez (11th) and Hernandez (15th) were the next most common Hispanic surnames.
Jobs
69%
Percentage of Hispanics 16 and older who are in the civilian labor force in 2008.
18%
The percentage of civilian employed Hispanics or Latinos 16 years and older who worked in management, professional and related occupations in 2008. The same percentage worked in production, transportation and material moving occupations. Another 15 percent worked in construction, extraction, maintenance and repair occupations. Approximately 24 percent of Hispanics 16 or older worked in service occupations; 22 percent in sales and office occupations; and 2 percent in farming, fishing and forestry occupations.
79,440
Number of Hispanic chief executives. In addition, 50,866 physicians and surgeons; 48,720 postsecondary teachers; 38,532 lawyers; and 2,726 news analysts, reporters and correspondents were Hispanic.
Voting
9.7 million million
The number of Hispanic citizens who reported voting in the 2008 presidential election, about 2 million more than voted in 2004. The percentage of Hispanic citizens voting–50%–represented a statistical increase from 2004 (47%).
Serving our Country
1.1 million
The number of Hispanic veterans of the U.S. armed forces.
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