U.S. Hispanics of El Salvadorian Origin in the United States, 2007
- A total of 1.5 million Hispanics of Salvadoran origin resided in the
United States in 2007, according to the Census Bureau’s American
Community Survey. Salvadorans in this statistical profile are people
who self-identified as Hispanics of Salvadoran origin; this means
either they themselves are Salvadoran immigrants or they trace their
family ancestry to El Salvador. Salvadorans are the fourth-largest
population of Hispanic origin living in the United States, accounting
for 3.2% of the U.S. Hispanic population in 2007.
This statistical profile compares the demographic, income and economic
characteristics of the Salvadoran population with the characteristics
of all Hispanics and the U.S. population overall. It is based on Pew
Hispanic Center tabulations of the 2007 American Community Survey. Key
facts include:
Immigration status. Two-thirds of Salvadorans (66.1%) in the
United States are foreign born, compared with 39.8% of Hispanics and
12.6% of the U.S. population overall. Most immigrants from El Salvador
(56.0%) arrived in the U.S. in 1990 or later. Three-in-ten of
Salvadoran immigrants (28.8%) are U.S. citizens.
Language.
Less than half of Salvadorans (43.8%) speak English proficiently.2 Some
56.2% of Salvadorans ages 5 and older report speaking English less than
very well, compared with 38.8% of all Hispanics.
Age.
Salvadorans are younger than the U.S. population and older than
Hispanics overall. The median age of Salvadorans is 29; the median ages
of the U.S. population and all Hispanics are 36 and 27, respectively.
Marital status. Less than half of Salvadorans (45.1%) and Hispanics overall (47.3%) are married.
Fertility.
Four-in-ten (37.4%) of Salvadoran women ages 15 to 44 who gave birth in
the 12 months prior to the survey were unmarried. That was similar to
the rate for all Hispanic women—38.1%—but greater than the rate for
U.S. women—33.4%.
Regional dispersion. Four-in-ten Salvadorans (38.5%) live in California, and one-in-seven (13.9%) live in Texas.
Educational
attainment. Salvadorans have lower levels of education than the
Hispanic population overall. Fifty-three percent of Salvadorans ages 25
and older—compared with 39.4% of all U.S. Hispanics—have not obtained
at least a high school diploma.
Income. The median annual
personal earnings for Salvadorans ages 16 and older were $20,238 in
2007; the median earnings for all U.S. Hispanics were $21,048.
Poverty
status. The share of Salvadorans who live in poverty, 14.6%, is higher
than the rate for the general U.S. population (11.9%) and below the
19.5% share among all Hispanics.
Homeownership. The rate of
Salvadoran homeownership (48.1%) is lower than the rate for all
Hispanics (49.9%) and the U.S. population (67.2%) as a whole.
About the Data - This statistical profile of Hispanics of
Salvadoran origin is based on the Census Bureau's 2007 American
Community Survey (ACS). The ACS is the largest household survey in the
United States, with a sample of about 3 million addresses. The data
used for this statistical profile come from 2007 ACS Integrated Public
Use Microdata Series (IPUMS), representing a 1% sample of the U.S.
population.
