Global InformationRace and ethnicity in the United States information
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The United States has a racially and ethnically diverse population.[1] At the federal level, race and ethnicity have been categorized separately. The most recent United States census recognized five racial categories (White, Black, Native American/Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander), as well as people who belong to two or more of the racial categories.[2][3][4] The United States also recognizes the broader notion of ethnicity. The 2000 census and 2010 American Community Survey inquired about the "ancestry" of residents, while the 2020 census allowed people to enter their "origins".[5] The Census Bureau also classified respondents as either Hispanic or Latino, identifying as an ethnicity, which comprises the minority group in the nation.[2][3][4]
White Americans are the majority in every census-defined region (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West) and in every state except Hawaii,[6] but contribute the highest proportion of the population in the Midwest, at 85% per the Population Estimates Program (PEP)[4] or 83% per the American Community Survey (ACS).[7][verification needed] Non-Hispanic whites make up 79% of the Midwest's population, the highest proportion of any region.[4] At the same time, the region with the smallest share of white Americans is the South, which comprise 53%.[4]
Currently, 55% of the African American population lives in the South.[4] A plurality or majority of the other official groups reside in the West. The latter region is home to 42% of Hispanic and Latino Americans, 46% of Asian Americans, 48% of American Indians and Alaska Natives, 68% of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders, 37% of the "two or more races" population (Multiracial Americans), and 46% of those self-designated as "some other race".[4][8]
Each of the five inhabited U.S. territories is fairly homogeneous, though each comprises a different primary ethnic group. American Samoa has a high percentage of Pacific Islanders, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are mostly Asian and Pacific Islander, Puerto Rico is mostly Hispanic/Latino, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are mostly African American.[9][10][11][12]
- ^ "Our Diverse Population: Race and Hispanic Origin, 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 16, 2005.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
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Overviewwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c d e f g "United States Census Bureau website". 2008 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
- ^ "Irish Americans must respond to ethnic question in 2020 US Census". Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ "2016 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Fact Finder. American Community Survey. Archived from the original on August 15, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
- ^ "B02001. Race – Universe: Total Population". 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
- ^ "B03002. Hispanic or Latino Origin by Race – Universe: Total Population by region". 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
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