Fun Facts: Hispanic Heritage Month

Hispanic Heritage month kicks off today, so let’s celebrate with some fun facts courtesy of the U.S. Census.

52 million: The Hispanic population of the United States as of July 1, 2011, making people of Hispanic origin the nation’s largest ethnic or race minority. Hispanics constituted 16.7 percent of the nation’s total population. In addition, there are 3.7 million residents of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory.

1.3 million: Number of Hispanics added to the nation’s population between July 1, 2010, and July 1, 2011. This number is more than half of the approximately 2.3 million added to the nation’s population during this period.

2.5: Percentage increase in the Hispanic population between 2010 and 2011.

132.8 million: The projected Hispanic population of the United States on July 1, 2050. According to this projection, Hispanics will constitute 30 percent of the nation’s population by that date.

50.5 million: The number of Hispanics counted during the 2010 Census. This was about a 43 percent increase from the Hispanic population in the 2000 Census, which was 35.3 million.

2nd: Ranking of the size of the U.S. Hispanic population worldwide, as of 2010. Only Mexico (112 million) had a larger Hispanic population than the United States (50.5 million).

63: The percentage of Hispanic-origin people in the United States who were of Mexican background in 2010. Another 9.2 percent were of Puerto Rican background, 3.5 percent Cuban, 3.3 percent Salvadoran and 2.8 percent Dominican. The remainder was of some other Central American, South American or other Hispanic/Latino origin.

Florida: The state with the highest median age, 34, within the Hispanic population.

14.4 million: The estimated population for those of Hispanic-origin in California as of July 1, 2011.

8: The number of states that have a population of 1 million or more Hispanic residents — Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Texas.

More than 50: The percent of all the Hispanic population that live in California, Florida, and Texas as of July 1, 2011.

46.7: The percentage of New Mexico’s population that was Hispanic as of July 1, 2011, the highest of any state.

147.9: The percentage increase in the Hispanic population in South Carolina between April 1, 2000, and April 1, 2010, the highest of any state. Alabama had the second highest increase, with 144.8 percent.

4.7 million: The Hispanic population of Los Angeles County, Calif., in 2010. This is the highest of any county.