Puerto Ricans In The United States
Some 4.1 million Puerto Ricans resided in the 50 U.S. states and the District of
Columbia in 2007, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community
Survey.1 That is a slightly greater number than the population of Puerto Rico
itself in 2007, which was 3.9 million. This statistical profile focuses on
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
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.
Author: The Pew Hispanic Center, Posted on Tue, Jul 21, 2009
