In 2021, about 14.09 million Hispanic families were living in the United States. A Hispanic family can be of any race, and includes families with and without children 18 years old and younger. As of 2021, California was home to more than 15.75 million people of Hispanic heritage, making it the state with the highest Hispanic population in the United States. California, along with Texas, Florida, New York and Arizona were the top five states for Hispanic residents in 2021. Although not one of the leading states in terms of total population, New Mexico has the highest percentage among the 50 U.S. states, with nearly half of its population being of Hispanic origin as of 2019. In the same year, the national percentage of Hispanic population in the United States was 18.4.
Origin and demographics
In regards to the origin countries of the Hispanic population, more than 37.24 million of the U.S. Hispanic population was of Mexican descent in 2021. This is nearly 25 percent of all foreign-born residents. The second largest Hispanic ethnic group was Puerto Rican, with about 5.8 million people residing in the United States. Salvadorans constituted the third largest Latino ethnic group with an estimated 2.47 million people. In 2018, about 31 percent of immigrant arrivals to the U.S. were people of Hispanic origin, which is significantly less than the beginning of the century. In 2001, over half of immigrant arrivals to the U.S. were of Hispanic origin.In 2021, 4.68 million male Hispanics were between the ages of 35 and 44 years old. In the same age group, there were 4.32 million female Hispanics. Up until the ages of 55, there are more male Hispanics. From 55 onward, there are more female Hispanics in the United States. In terms of generational distribution, 38 percent of the U.S. Hispanic population in 2018 was Gen Z and younger (0-21 years), which was a larger share than other generations. Millennials followed behind Gen Z, making up about a quarter of the Hispanic population in the U.S.
Employment and language proficiency
Most Hispanics are bilingual, speaking both Spanish and English. About 36 percent of foreign-born adults living in the U.S. said they could speak English “very well” in 2018. At the same time, roughly 43 percent stated that they spoke English less than “very well”. Although correlative, English language proficiency is not the sole path to employment. In 2021, the employment rate in the United States was highest among Mexican-American and Hispanic/Latino residents, with 61.2 percent and 61.1 percent respectively. In total, there were around 58.4 percent of eligible Americans who were currently employed. The unemployment rate of Hispanic Americans has been inconsistent since 1990, but has continued to decrease in the last decade, despite increases in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.In 2021, the median household income in the United States was about 70,784 U.S. dollars. Among Hispanic households, the average income in 2021 was 57,981 U.S. dollars. In 2020, the median weekly earnings of a Latino full-time employee came to about 758 U.S. dollars. This was significantly less than the U.S. average, which was 984 U.S. dollars that year. For Latina women this figure is even lower.
