In 1968, Congress authorized President Lyndon Johnson to proclaim National Hispanic Heritage Week. The observance was expanded in 1988 to a month long celebration. During this month, America celebrates the traditions, ancestry and experiences of U.S. residents who trace their roots to Spain, Mexico, and the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Sept. 15 was chosen as the starting point for the celebration because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries — Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico declared its independence on Sept. 16 and Chile on Sept. 18.

38.8 million
The estimated Hispanic population of the United States as of July 1, 2002, making people of Hispanic origin the nation's largest minority. Hispanics constitute 13.4 percent of the nation's total population. (These estimates do not include the 3.9 million residents of Puerto Rico.)
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-100.html>
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02-168.html>

3.5 million
The estimated numerical increase in the nation's Hispanic population in the 27 months between Census Day, April 1, 2000, and July 1, 2002. Hispanics accounted for about 1 of every 2 people added to the nation's population over this period. The Hispanic population rose by 9.8 percent during this time — about four times as fast as the rate of increase of the population as a whole.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-100.html>

Marriage and Family

8.5 million
The number of Hispanic families. Of these, 63 percent include their own children under 18 years old.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-97.html>

27
Percentage of Hispanic families that consist of five or more people. Conversely, 26 percent consist of only two people. The difference between the two percentages is not statistically significant.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-100.html>

People of Mexican origin generally have the largest families (31 percent consist of five or more people) while those of Cuban heritage have the smallest (43 percent have only two people).
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-100.html>

Spanish Language

28 million
The number of U.S. residents age 5 and older who speak Spanish at home. Spanish speakers constitute a ratio of more than 1-in-10 residents. Among all those who speak Spanish, more than one-half say they also speak English very well.
<http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=DSS&_lang=en>

92
Percentage of Hialeah, Fla., residents age 5 and over who speak Spanish at home. Hialeah and Laredo, Texas (91 percent), have the highest proportion of residents speaking Spanish of any place with 100,000 or more residents in the nation. (From a soon-to-be released publication.)

Coming to America

40
Percentage of the Hispanic-origin population that is foreign-born. More than half (52 percent) of foreign-born Hispanics have entered the country since 1990.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-100.html>

61
Percentage of Hispanic-origin children with at least one foreign-born parent. These 7.8 million children accounted for more than half of all children with foreign-born parents.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-97.html>

9.2 million
Number of foreign-born people who hail from Mexico, the most from any single Latin American country. Other Latin American countries that were the birthplace of more than half a million immigrants were Cuba (906,000), El Salvador (797,000), the Dominican Republic (634,000) and Colombia (510,000).
<http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=DSS&_lang=en>

Income and Poverty

$33,565
The real median income of Hispanic households in 2001, unchanged from the previous year.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02-124.html>

21.4 percent
The poverty rate among Hispanics in 2001, which remained at the previous year's nearly 30-year record low.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02-124.html>

Education

57
The percentage of Hispanics 25 and over who have at least a high school education. For the general population, the percentage is 84 percent.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-51.html>

11
The percentage of the Hispanic population 25 and over with a bachelor's degree or more. For the general population, the percentage is 27 percent.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-51.html>

2.3 million
The number of Hispanics 18 and over who have at least a bachelor's degree. This is about double the number in 1990 (1.1 million).
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-51.html>
<http://www.census.gov/prod/cen1990/cp3/cp-3-4.pdf>

595,000
The number of Hispanics 18 and over with an advanced degree (e.g., master's, doctorate, medical or law).
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-51.html>

Jobs

22
Percentage of Hispanics who work in service occupations. Another 21 percent work as operators and laborers and 14 percent in managerial and professional occupations. The proportions of Hispanics employed in service occupations and as operators and laborers were not statistically different.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-100.html>

Among Latino groups, those of Central and South American heritage are more likely than other groups to work in service occupations (27 percent), while people of Mexican descent are less likely than other groups to work in managerial or professional occupations (12 percent).
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-100.html>

Housing

46
Percentage of Hispanic-origin householders who own their homes.
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/hvs.html>

The Latino Vote

The number of Hispanic voters increased about 20 percent between 1996 and 2000. This reflected growth in the number of Hispanic-origin people 18 years of age and older who were U.S. citizens.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02-31.html>

Proud to Serve

1.1 million
Number of Latino veterans of the U.S. armed forces. Another 71,000 Hispanic-origin people were on active duty in 2001 in the United States.
<http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=DSS&_lang=en>

Population Distribution

67
Percentage of Hispanic-origin people who are of Mexican background. Of the remainder, 14 percent are of Central and South American background, 9 percent of Puerto Rican heritage, 4 percent of Cuban descent and 7 percent of other Hispanic origins.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-100.html>

States

50
Percentage of Hispanic-origin population that lives in California and Texas. California is home to 11.9 million Hispanics and Texas, to 7.3 million. More than 3-in-4 Hispanics live in seven states, which have Hispanic populations of 1 million or more each: California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Arizona and New Jersey.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-144.html>

43
Percentage of New Mexico's population that is Hispanic, highest of any state. California and Texas were next, at 34 percent each.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-144.html>

19
Percentage growth in the number of Hispanics in Georgia between April 1, 2000, and July 1, 2002, the highest growth rate of any state in the nation. Nevada and North Carolina followed closely (17 percent each).
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-144.html>

970,000
Numerical growth in California's Hispanic-origin population between April 1, 2000, and July 1, 2002, highest of any state in the nation. Texas and Florida followed, at 645,000 and 337,000, respectively.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-144.html>

18
The number of states where Hispanics form the largest minority race or ethnic group.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/cb03-144.html>