To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, we take a look at the most recent data from the 2020 Census and the American Community Survey to shed more light on the economic impact of Hispanic Americans. In this update of our Power of the Purse series, we find that Hispanic households now collectively earn more than ever—to the sum of more than $1.2 trillion and paid almost $309 billion in taxes in 2019 alone—and remain one of the fastest growth segments of the U.S. population.

Critically for the U.S. economy, Hispanic Americans continue to fill critical workforce gaps in labor-short industries such as agriculture, hospitality, construction, and healthcare. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, these industries are now more critical than ever to economic vitality and health of the nation. The data also show that Hispanic immigrants continue to start and own their own businesses at higher rates than the rest of the population. Last, looking forward to what will likely be a hotly contested midterm election in 2022, we find that Hispanic eligible voters now make up considerable shares of the electorate, accounting for more than 1 in 5 eligible voters in several states.

Key Findings

This year, “The Power of the Purse: The Contributions of Hispanic Americans” finds:

• In 2020, there were more than 62 million Hispanic Americans in the United States, making up 18.7 percent of the U.S. population, making them the largest ethnic group in the country. Several states, including South Dakota, Vermont, and Louisiana saw significant increases in their Hispanic populations, all growing more than 67 percent between 2010 and 2020. In North Dakota, the Hispanic population more than doubled over the last decade, increasing by 148.1 percent from 13,500 to 33,400.
• Although now eclipsed by Asian Americans as the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, Hispanics are still a fast-growing demographic. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of Hispanic Americans increased by 23.0%. In comparison, the United States overall grew by just 7.4 percent, and non-Hispanic Whites actually shrank by 2.6%. 
• The growth among U.S.-born Hispanics has been particularly strong. U.S.-born Hispanics accounted for more than 90 percent of growth in the Hispanic population between 2010 and 2019. The number of U.S.-born Hispanics grew by 27.5 percent, from 31.9 million to 40.7 million in 2019.
• Hispanic households hold considerable earning and consumer power. In 2019, Hispanic households earned more than $1.2 trillion. This allowed them to pay $308.5 billion in taxes, including $196.5 billion in federal income taxes, as well as more than $112 billion in state and local taxes. After taxes, Hispanic households still held more than $910 billion in spending power.
• More recently arrived Hispanic immigrants are more highly educated than past cohorts of Hispanic immigrants. While only 13.7 percent of Hispanic immigrants hold at least a bachelor’s degree, 21.9 percent of Hispanic immigrants who arrived since 2014 do.
• Hispanic immigrants are significantly more likely to be entrepreneurs than the general U.S. population. More than 12 percent of all Hispanic immigrant workers worked for their own business, making them 30.6 percent more likely to have their own business than the overall U.S. population. There were more than 2.5 million Hispanic entrepreneurs in the United States in 2019.
• Hispanic workers make up significant shares of some of the most important industries in the U.S. economy. In agriculture and construction, Hispanics make up more than 3 in 10 workers. In hospitality and food service, almost 1 in 4 workers are Hispanic nationwide.
• Between 2010 and 2019 the number of eligible Hispanic voters increased by more than 8.2 million. In 2019, there were more than 29.8 million Hispanic eligible voters, a 39 percent increase from the 21.5 million Hispanic eligible voters there were in 2010. The number of U.S.-born eligible voters in particular grew from 16.1 million in 2010 to 22.3 million, an increase of more than 6.1 million people.
• In some states, Hispanics are capable of wielding considerable electoral power. While nationwide, Hispanic Americans now make up 13.1 percent of eligible voters and increase from 12.5 percent just 2 years ago. In some states they make up an even more significant share of the electorate. In New Mexico, 43.7 percent of all eligible voters are Hispanic. They make up 30.1 percent and 30.0 percent of eligible voters in Texas and California, respectively, and almost 1 in 4 eligible voters in Arizona.

Population Growth

Population Change for Selected Groups and Overall U.S. Population, 2010-2020

	2010	2020	Change, 2010-2020	Rate of Change, 2010-2020
Total U.S. Population	308,745,536	331,449,280	22,703,744	7.4%
Hispanic	50,477,592	62,080,044	11,602,452	23.0%
Non-Hispanic White	196,817,552	191,697,648	-5,119,904	-2.6%
Black, Non-Hispanic	37,685,848	39,940,336	2,254,488	6.0%
Asian, Non-Hispanic	14,465,124	19,618,720	5,153,596	35.6%

In 2020, there were more than 62 million Hispanic Americans in the United States, making up 18.7 percent of the U.S. population, making them the largest ethnic group in the country. Although now eclipsed by Asians as the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, Hispanics are still a fast-growing demographic. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of Hispanic Americans increased by 23.0%, or 12 million. In comparison, the United States overall grew by just 7.4 percent, and the number of non-Hispanic Whites shrank by 2.6 percent.

Top 10 States with Largest Increases in Hispanic Population, 2010-2020

State	Hispanic Population, 2020	Hispanic Population, 2020	New Hispanic Residents, 2010-2020
Texas	9,460,921	11,441,717	1,980,796
California	14,013,719	15,579,652	1,565,933
Florida	4,223,806	5,697,240	1,473,434
New York	3,416,922	3,948,032	531,110
New Jersey	1,555,144	2,002,575	447,431
Pennsylvania	719,660	1,049,615	329,955
North Carolina	800,120	1,118,596	318,476
Illinois	2,027,578	2,337,410	309,832
Washington	755,790	1,059,213	303,423
Arizona	1,895,149	2,192,253	297,104

Some states saw particularly large increases in the number of new Hispanic residents between 2010 and 2020. Texas, California, and Florida, states that already boasted large Hispanic populations, saw their Hispanic populations increase by at least 1.4 million. In Texas, there were almost 2 million new Hispanic residents alone between 2010 and 2020.

Top 10 States with Fastest Growth in Hispanic Population, 2010-2020

State	Hispanic Population Growth Rate	Hispanic Population, 2010	Hispanic Population, 2020
North Dakota	148.1%	13,467	33,412
South Dakota	75.1%	22,119	38,741
Vermont	68.4%	9,208	15,504
Louisiana	67.5%	192,560	322,549
Tennessee	65.2%	290,059	479,187
New Hampshire	62.0%	36,704	59,454
Montana	58.2%	28,565	45,199
Maine	57.1%	16,935	26,609
Kentucky	56.5%	132,836	207,854
West Virginia	56.4%	22,268	34,827

Perhaps more interestingly, there were several states that are emerging as new destinations for Hispanic Americans, including South Dakota, Vermont, and Louisiana. All these states saw significant increases in their Hispanic populations, each growing more than 67 percent between 2010 and 2020. In North Dakota, the state with the fastest growing Hispanic population in the country, the number of Hispanic residents more than doubled between 2010 and 2020, increasing by 148.1 percent from 13,500 to 33,400.

Spotlight on Hispanic Immigrants

Hispanic Population by Nativity, 2010 to 2019

Population	2019	2010	Share of Hispanics, 2019	Share of Hispanics, 2010	Growth Rate, 2010-2020
U.S.-Born Hispanics	40,695,926	31,912,465	67.3%	62.9%	27.5%
Foreign-Born Hispanics	19,788,851	18,817,105	32.7%	37.1%	5.2%

Similar to Asian Americans, growth among U.S.-born Hispanics is accounts for the lion’s share of growth among all Hispanics in the United States. With immigration from Latin American countries falling from their peak numbers in the early 2000s, U.S.-born Hispanics accounted for more than 90 percent of growth in the overall Hispanic population between 2010 and 2020. Already, U.S.-born Hispanics make up more than two-thirds of all Hispanics in the United States and their share of the Hispanic population is expected to continue to increase.

Top States by Hispanic Immigrant Population, 2019

State	Hispanic Immigrant Population	Total Population	Share of Population, Hispanic Immigrant
California	5,128,151	39,512,224	13.0%
Florida	2,645,346	21,477,736	12.3%
Texas	3,178,956	28,995,880	11.0%
Nevada	324,993	3,080,156	10.6%
New Jersey	790,828	8,882,190	8.9%
Arizona	578,659	7,278,717	8.0%
New York	1,370,306	19,453,560	7.0%
New Mexico	144,417	2,096,829	6.9%
Illinois	725,786	12,671,821	5.7%
Rhode Island	59,080	1,059,361	5.6%

Labor Force Characteristics and Workforce Contributions

Given that Hispanics are more likely to be younger and of working age, Hispanics, both U.S.-born and immigrant, have a higher labor force participation rate than the overall U.S. average. In 2019, while U.S.-born Hispanics had a slightly lower employment rate than the U.S. average, Hispanic immigrants were more likely to be employed and working.

Educational Attainment (Age 25+)

Education Level	All Hispanics	Hispanic Immigrants	Recent Hispanic Immigrants	U.S. Average
Below high-school diploma	29.5%	43.0%	17.2%	11.4%
High-school or some college	52.9%	43.3%	60.9%	55.5%
Bachelor’s degree	12.0%	9.3%	15.0%	20.4%
Advanced degree	5.6%	4.4%	6.9%	12.8%

More recently arrived Hispanic immigrants are more highly educated than past cohorts of Hispanic immigrants. This mirrors the general trend among more recently arriving immigrants being better educated than their predecessors. To compare, while only 13.7 percent of Hispanic immigrants hold at least a bachelor’s degree, 21.9 percent of Hispanic immigrants who arrived since 2014 do. This however is still below the overall U.S. average for college attendance.

Hispanic workers make up significant shares of some of the most important industries in the U.S. economy. In agriculture and construction, Hispanics make up more than 3 in 10 workers. In hospitality and food service, almost 1 in 4 workers are Hispanic nationwide. In many of these industries, Hispanic immigrants in particular play a vital role. For example, in agriculture, Hispanic immigrants make up almost 1 in 4 workers and within specific industries within agriculture such as crop production, Hispanic immigrants are even more prevalent.

Hispanic immigrants are significantly more likely to be entrepreneurs than the general U.S. population. More than 12 percent of all Hispanic immigrant workers worked for their own business, making them 30.6 percent more likely to have their own business than the overall U.S. population. There were more than 2.5 million Hispanic entrepreneurs in the United States in 2019.

Income, Taxes, and Spending Power

Hispanic households hold considerable earning and consumer power. In 2019, Hispanic households earned more than $1.2 trillion. This allowed them to pay $308.5 billion in taxes, including $196.5 billion in federal income taxes, as well as more than $112 billion in state and local taxes. After taxes, Hispanic households still held more than $910 billion in spending power.

	Household Income	Total Taxes Paid	Federal Income Tax	State and Local Taxes	Spending Power
U.S.-Born Hispanics	$675.6 Billion	$177.4 Billion	$115.5 Billion	$61.9 Billion	$498.2 Billion
Immigrant Hispanics	$543.1 Billion	$131.1 Billion	$80.9 Billion	$50.1 Billion	$412.0 Billion
All Hispanics	$1.2 Trillion	$308.5 Billion	$196.5 Billion	$112.0 Billion	$910.2 Billion

Hispanic Voting Power

Between 2010 and 2019 the number of eligible Hispanic voters increased by more than 8.2 million. In 2019, there were more than 29.8 million Hispanic eligible voters, a 39 percent increase from the 21.5 million Hispanic eligible voters there were in 2010. The number of U.S.-born eligible voters in particular grew from 16.1 million in 2010 to 22.3 million, an increase of more than 6.1 million people.

Hispanic and Hispanic Immigrant Voters in the 10 States with Largest Hispanic Populations

State	Hispanic Eligible Voters	Hispanic Immigrant Eligible Voters	Share of Electorate, Hispanic	Share of Electorate, Hispanic Immigrant
Texas	5,694,272	960,478	31.1%	5.2%
California	7,833,494	2,035,967	31.0%	8.1%
Arizona	1,193,064	209,060	23.9%	4.2%
Florida	3,159,159	1,388,875	20.9%	9.2%
New Jersey	928,542	370,695	15.5%	6.2%
New York	2,018,340	641,123	15.2%	4.8%
Illinois	1,081,799	295,774	12.3%	3.4%
Virginia	337,504	119,208	5.6%	2.0%
Georgia	365,145	96,856	5.0%	1.3%
North Carolina	341,357	93,948	4.6%	1.3%

In some states, Hispanics are capable of wielding considerable electoral power. While nationwide, Hispanic Americans now make up 13.1 percent of eligible voters and increase from 12.5 percent just 2 years ago. In some states they make up an even more significant share of the electorate. In New Mexico, 43.7 percent of all eligible voters are Hispanic. They make up 30.1 percent and 30.0 percent of eligible voters in Texas and California, respectively, and almost 1 in 4 eligible voters in Arizona.

States Where More than 10% of the Electorate is Hispanic

State	Hispanic Eligible Voters	Total Eligible Voters	Share of Electorate, Hispanic
New Mexico	647,735	1,482,775	43.7%
Texas	5,694,272	18,317,671	31.1%
California	7,833,494	25,284,587	31.0%
Arizona	1,193,064	4,989,622	23.9%
Florida	3,159,159	15,094,795	20.9%
Nevada	414,617	2,069,652	20.0%
Colorado	676,418	4,134,544	16.4%
New Jersey	928,542	5,999,372	15.5%
New York	2,018,340	13,291,343	15.2%
Connecticut	314,614	2,512,270	12.5%
Illinois	1,081,799	8,805,576	12.3%
Rhode Island	89,566	764,295	11.7%