U.S. Hispanics of Guatemalan Origin in the United States, 2007 -
A total of 860,000 Hispanics of Guatemalan origin resided in the United
States in 2007, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community
Survey. Guatemalans in this statistical profile are people who
self-identified as Hispanics of Guatemalan origin; this means either
they themselves are Guatemalan immigrants or they trace their family
ancestry to Guatemala. Guatemalans are the sixth-largest population of
Hispanic origin living in the United States, accounting for 1.9% of the
U.S. Hispanic population in 2007.
This statistical profile compares the demographic, income and economic
characteristics of the Guatemalan 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. Seven-in-ten Guatemalans (69.0%) in the
United States are foreign born compared with 39.8% of Hispanics and
12.6% of the U.S. population overall. Two-thirds of immigrants from
Guatemala (67.4%) arrived in the U.S. in 1990 or later. Two-in-ten
Guatemalan immigrants (22.9%) are U.S. citizens.
Language. Four-in-ten Guatemalans (40.3%) speak English proficiently.2
Some 59.7% of Guatemalans ages 5 and older report speaking English less
than very well, compared with 38.8% of all Hispanics.
Age. Guatemalans are younger than the U.S. population. The median age
of Guatemalans is 27, which is the same as the median age of all
Hispanics; the median age of the U.S. population is 36.
Marital status. Guatemalans are less likely than Hispanics overall to be married—44.0% versus 47.3%.
Fertility. Four-in-ten (43.4%) Guatemalan women ages 15 to 44 who gave
birth in the 12 months prior to the survey were unmarried. That was
greater than the rate for all Hispanic women—38.1%—and the rate for
U.S. women—33.4%.
Regional dispersion. Four-in-ten Guatemalans (42.3%) live in the West, mostly in California (35.1%).
Educational attainment. Guatemalans have lower levels of education than
the Hispanic population overall. Some 54.1% of Guatemalans 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 Guatemalans ages 16 and
older were $18,518 in 2007; the median earnings for all U.S. Hispanics
were $21,048.
Poverty status. The share of Guatemalans who live in poverty, 19.0%, is
higher than the rate for the general U.S. population (11.9%) and
similar to the share for all Hispanics (19.5%).
Homeownership. The rate of Guatemalan homeownership (35.3%) 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
Guatemalan 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.
