Today's 10 million-plus Hispanic households will soar to 13.5 million by 2010, up from less than 6 million in 1990. These households will control $670 billion in personal income six years from now, with Mexican-American households accounting for $409 billion of this total. Households hailing from Central and South America will earn $107 billion by 2010, with Puerto Rican households controlling $65 billion. Cuban families will account for $32 billion, with the remaining $56 billion being earned by Spanish, Dominican and other Hispanic households. (The Conference Board study defines "Hispanics" as people whose origin is in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, South and Central America or other Hispanic/Latino regions, including Spain and the Dominican Republic, regardless of race.)

Hispanic households tend to be younger on average than the U.S. population at large. Of the more than 10 million Hispanic households, 38 percent are currently headed by someone under 35, and an additional 25 percent are led by someone between the ages of 35 and 44 (the national average for homes with heads under 35 is 23 percent.) By 2010, the under-45 Hispanic market will increase to 8 million households, and its purchasing power will leap from the current level of less than $295 billion to $397 billion. In other words, $3 out of every $5 flowing to Hispanic households in 2010 will be in the hands of this younger-than-average segment. MARKET OPPORTUNITY FOR MANY FIRMS "As the Hispanic market keeps growing both in size and buying power, companies in a wide variety of industries will enjoy significant marketing opportunities," says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. "But since this young, burgeoning market is extremely diverse, marketers should be aware of extensive demographic and economic differences among the Hispanic household population." Hispanic Demographics Part 3