White Hispanic and Latino Americans

In the United States, a white Hispanic or Latino is an individual who is of full or partial Hispanic or Latino descent, the largest group being white Mexican Americans.[7] Although not differentiated in the U.S. Census definition, White Latino Americans may also be defined to include only those who identify as white and either originate from or have descent from countries in Latin America[8][9] that speak Romance languages such as Brazil, Haiti, and French Guiana.

Quick facts: Total population, Regions with significant po... ▼

White Hispanic and Latino Americans

Total population
12,579,626 (white alone) 20.3% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans and 3.8% of the U.S. population 31,521,221 (white alone or in combination) 50.8% of all Latino Americans and 9.6% of the U.S. population[1][2] (2020)
Regions with significant populations
Nationwide, concentrated in Southwest
Texas	3,024,768 26.4% of Hispanics and Latinos 10.4% of total population[3]
California	2,581,535 16.6% of Hispanics and Latinos 6.5% of total population[4]
Florida	1,322,458 23.2% of Hispanics and Latinos 6.1% of total population[5]
New Mexico	305,985 30.3% of Hispanics and Latinos 14.5% of total population[6]
Languages
English, Spanish, Portuguese
Religion
Roman Catholicism, sizeable Protestantism  • Minority: Atheism, Judaism
Related ethnic groups
White Latin Americans, White Mexicans, White Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Spanish Americans, Portuguese Americans, Italian Americans, French Americans

Based on the definitions created by the Office of Management and Budget and the US Census Bureau, the concepts of race and ethnicity are mutually independent. For the Census Bureau, ethnicity distinguishes between those who report ancestral origins in Spain or Latin America (Hispanic and Latino Americans), and those who do not (non-Hispanic Americans).[8][9][10] From 1850 to 1920, Mexicans in the United States were generally classified as white by the U.S. Census.[11] In 1930, "Mexican" was officially added as a racial category on the United States Census but was soon after removed due to political pressure from the Mexican consul general in New York, the Mexican ambassador in Washington, the Mexican government itself, Mexican Americans, and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) who protested the exclusion from whiteness.[11] In 1970, a 5 percent sample of the Census was asked if their “origin or descent” was Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or Other Spanish.[11] In 1980, the full population was asked about "Spanish/Hispanic origin or descent" identifying three nationalities (“Mexican, Mexican-American, Chicano”).[11] Thereafter "Latino" was classified solely as an ethnicity separate from race.[12] In 2000, the US Census Bureau allowed persons to check multiple race identifiers.[13]

As of 2020, 62 million or 18.7% of residents of the United States of America identified as Hispanic or Latino of which 12.5 million or 20.3% self-identified as white alone[14] down from the 2019 American Community Survey when 38.3 million, or 65.5% of Latinos self-identified as white.[15]