U.S Hispanics of Puerto Rican Origin in the United States, 2007
- Some 4.1 million Hispanics of Puerto Rican origin resided in the 50
U.S. states and the District of Columbia in 2007, according to the
Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. That is a slightly greater
number than the population of Puerto Rico itself in 2007, which was 3.9
million. Puerto Ricans in this statistical profile are people who
self-identified as Hispanics of Puerto Rican origin; this means either
they themselves are Puerto Rican immigrants or they trace their family
ancestry to Puerto Rico. This statistical profile focuses on the
characteristics of Puerto Ricans residing in the 50 states and the
District of Columbia, henceforth the United States.
Most Puerto Ricans in the United States 2.7 million in all were born in
the 50 states or the District of Columbia. Additionally, one-third of
the Puerto Rican population in the U.S. 1.4 million was born in Puerto
Rico. People born in Puerto Rico are also considered native born
because they are U.S. citizens by birth. A small number of Puerto
Ricans 48,000 were born outside of the U.S. or Puerto Rico and were not
U.S. citizens by birth. They are considered foreign born.
Puerto Ricans are the second-largest population of Hispanic origin
residing in the United States, accounting for 9.1% of the U.S. Hispanic
population in 2007. Mexicans constituted 29.2 million, or 64.3%, of the
Hispanic population.
As a group, Puerto Ricans are older than Hispanics on average but they
are younger than the U.S. population. They are less likely to be
married than either Hispanics overall or the U.S. population overall.
The majority (55.9%) of Puerto Rican women ages 15 to 44 who had a
birth in the 12 months prior to the survey were unmarried. The
comparable share for all Hispanic women was 38.1% and the figure for
all U.S. women was 33.4%.
Among Puerto Ricans ages 5 and older living in the U.S., most do not
speak only English at home. Some 20.5% of Puerto Ricans ages 5 and
older report speaking English less than very well, compared with 38.8%
of all Hispanics. Puerto Ricans are concentrated in the Northeast,
mostly in New York, and in the South, mostly in Florida.
Puerto Ricans have lower levels of education and lower incomes than
average for the U.S. population. They are less likely to be in the
labor force, and among those in the labor force they have a higher rate
of unemployment than either all Hispanics or the overall population.
The rate of homeownership among Puerto Ricans is lower than the rate
for Hispanics overall and the U.S. population overall.
About the Data - This statistical profile of Hispanics of Puerto
Rican 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.
