The nation’s Latino population is diverse. Represented among the 51.9 million Latinos in the United States are individuals who trace their heritage to more than 20 Spanish-speaking nations worldwide. But one group—Mexicans—dominates the nation’s Latino population.
The U.S. Hispanic population reached 62.1 million in 2020, an increase of 23% over the previous decade.
There were 56.5 million Hispanics in the United States in 2015, accounting for 17.6% of the total U.S. population. In 1980, with a population of 14.8 million, Hispanics made up just 6.5% of the total U.S. population.
In 1980, the U.S. population of 226.5 million included 14.6 million Hispanics. Fully 68% of the Hispanic population was concentrated in the 47 counties (out of more than 3,100) that had at least 50,000 Hispanic residents. The map below shows where Hispanics lived in the United States in 1980 and provides detailed information on the 10 counties with the largest Hispanic populations.
Nearly four decades after the United States government mandated the use of the terms “Hispanic” or “Latino” to categorize Americans who trace their roots to Spanish-speaking countries, a new nationwide survey of Hispanic adults finds that these terms still haven’t been fully embraced by Hispanics themselves. A majority (51%) say they most often identify themselves by their family’s country of origin; just 24% say they prefer a pan-ethnic label.
