One-fifth of the U.S. population is now Hispanic

The U.S. Hispanic population reached 62.1 million in 2020, accounting for 19% of all Americans and making it the nation’s second largest racial or ethnic group, behind White Americans and ahead of Black Americans, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It is also one of the fastest growing groups in the U.S. Between 2010 and 2020, the country’s Hispanic population grew 23%, up from 50.5 million in 2010 (the Asian population grew faster over the same decade). Since 1970, when Hispanics made up 5% of the U.S. population and numbered 9.6 million, the Hispanic population has grown more than sixfold.

The number of Hispanics identifying as more than one race in the 2020 census has grown from 3 million to 20.3 million since 2010, while those identifying as only white dropped drastically, from 26.7 million to 12.6 million.