States with the largest New Latino populations
There are growing numbers of New Latinos in most states, but about three-quarters of them
are found in just five states: New York, California, Florida, New Jersey, and Texas. Table
4 lists the 16 states with more than 100,000 New Latinos in 2000. The table provides a
broad categorization of their origins in terms of Dominican, Central American, and South
American. For reference it also shows the populations of Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and
Cubans. The Mumford Center webpage provides more detailed breakdowns for all 50 states,
including both 1990 and 2000 and both Mumford estimates and counts from the Census Bureau.
- New York State has the most New Latinos (close to 1.4 million, up from
800,000 in 1990). About half (650,000) are Dominicans, who have had a noticeable presence
in New York City since the 1950s. Close to half a million are various South American
countries, a much newer immigrant stream. Puerto Ricans were once the predominant source
of Hispanic immigration. Now they account for barely more than a third of the state’s
Hispanics, and they are outnumbered by New Latinos.
- California has almost as many New Latinos as New York (also close to
1.4 million), though they are greatly outnumbered by Mexicans. The largest share - over a
million - are from Central America, including especially El Salvador, Guatemala, and
Nicaragua.
- Florida’s Hispanic population is well distributed among many
national-origin groups. The Cubans are by far the best known of these at a national level
(and they are still the largest, with nearly 900,000 residents statewide). Yet their
growth has been slower than other groups, and nearly an equal number now are New Latinos
(850,000), weighted toward South American origins. There are also over half a million
Puerto Ricans and close to 400,000 Mexicans.
- Because of its proximity to New York, New Jersey’s Hispanic
population might be expected to mirror that of its neighbor. It is similar, in that Puerto
Ricans still are about a third of them (385,000). And Puerto Ricans are now outnumbered
for the first time by New Latinos (over 500,000). The difference is that a much smaller
share in New Jersey is Dominican; about half of the state’s New Latinos are from
South America.
- Finally, Texas now has 400,000 New Latinos, more than doubling since
1990. As is true of California, the largest share is from Central America, especially El
Salvador. They are barely noticeable statewide, next to 6 million of Mexican origin. But
as will be shown below they are most heavily concentrated in Houston, where they are about
a sixth of the Hispanic population.
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