Census Bureau data tool helps pinpoint the explosive growth of the Latino population

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WASHINGTON — With the explosive expansion of the Latino population in the United States, the U.S. Census Bureau has created an online data tool that details its growth and the changes within varied segments of the community.

The interactive data visualization taps census data from 2000, 2010 and 2020 "to allow users to view changes in regional and detailed Hispanic or Latino groups such as Mexican, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran and Colombian over time," reads the announcement of the new tool. The data, depicted only on a nationwide basis and not state by state, is already on the census.gov website, but the new tool offers specific information about the Latino and Hispanic population in a more readily accessible format.

The image shows some of the data featured in a new online U.S. Census Bureau tool focused on the Latino population, the key motor to U.S. population growth. (Photo: U.S. Census Bureau)

Latinos were a key motor to U.S. population growth between 2000 and 2020, according to data from the new site, and they also led growth in the country between 2022 and 2023 by a wide margin, according to more recent estimates released last June. In releasing the 2023 figures, the Census Bureau said Latinos accounted for nearly 71% of total U.S. population growth from 2022, attributing most of the growth to births.

Here are some data points for population change from 2000 to 2020 from the new data tool:

The U.S. Latino population grew from 35.31 million in 2000 to 62.08 million in 2020, up 26.77 million or 75.8%. The non-Hispanic population — that is, the rest of the U.S. population — grew from 246.12 million to 269.37 million, up 23.3 million or 9.4%.
Mexicans or those of Mexican descent accounted for the majority of Latinos in 2000, 20.64 million of the 35.31 million total, 58.5%. They held the top spot in 2020 as well, 35.85 million of the 62.08 million total, or 57.7%.
Central Americans numbered 1.69 million in 2000, 4.8% of all Latinos. The figure grew to 5.91 million in 2020, 9.5% of all Latinos.
South Americans numbered 1.35 million in 2000, 3.8% of all Latinos. That grew to 4.05 million in 2020, 6.5% of all Latinos.
Puerto Ricans numbered 3.41 million in 2000, 9.7% of all Latinos. The total from the U.S. territory increased to 5.6 million in 2020, 9% of all Latinos.
The second-largest Latino contingent from a foreign country after Mexico comes from tiny El Salvador in Central America. Salvadorans numbered 2.34 million in 2020, just ahead of the 2.24 million people with Cuban roots. Next came Dominicans, 2.2 million, and Guatemalans, 1.67 million.
The data shows that Latinos skew younger than the rest of the population, suggesting their concentration of the overall U.S. population will increase in the years to come as older generations die. In the Latino population, 30.2% were younger than 18 in 2020 while the figure was 20.2% for the non-Hispanic population. At the same time, 7.9% of Latinos were aged 65 or older compared to 18.9% of the rest of the population.