U.S. Population Ethnicity, Race, Gender, Income

What is the size of the U.S. population? For 2000 census data by state, go to USA Today.

Source: Time, 30 October 2006.

Tables with U.S. population characteristics on this page:
Geographic regions & by country of immigrants admitted
Foreign-born as a percentage of national populations for selected countries
Arab-Americans
European ancestry groups
Gender

Racial groups ranked by metropolitan areas
Percent of U.S. racial groups
Average household income distribution

Geographic Regions of Immigrants Admitted (1990)
and Largest Number of Immigrants by Country (1995) (in thousands)

Europe	112.4	Ex-Soviet Union	54.5
Asia	338.6	Philippines Vietnam China	51.0 41.8 35.5
Canada and Central America	957.6	Mexico Dominican Rep.	89.9 35.5
South America	85.8
Africa	35.9*
other regions	6.3
total	1,536,483
*Foreign-born blacks, particularly Africans, are the most educated group in the United States: 75 percent have some college education; 25 percent have advanced degrees. Consequently, African immigrants have an average per-person income of $15,000 per year while the U.S. population has an average per-person income of $8,000 per year. Two or more wage earners per household are more common among African and other black (Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Haiti, etc.) immigrant families as well -- 61 percent in that population versus 45 percent in the U.S. population.

The newly arrived immigrants use public assistance 35 percent
more than natives and pay 32 percent less taxes during their life times; hence, the negative numbers in the first column of the above table. But the descendants of these immigrants contribute substantially in taxes and the economy; hence, the second column has such high positive values.
Source: The Economist, 29 Nov. 1997, p. 81.

Foreign-born as a percentage of national populations,
for selected countries

Country	Percent
Australia	22.7
Switzerland	18.5
Canada	16.1
USA	8.7

Ancestry Groups, 1990

Group	Percent
Scottish	2.2
Scotch-Irish	2.3
Dutch	2.5
Scandinavian	2.9
Polish	3.8
Italian	5.9
English	13.5
Irish	16
German	23

Racial Groups by Metropolitan Area, 1990
(percent of metropolitan area)

Blacks		Hispanics		Indians		Asians
41	Memphis	70	El Paso	6.8	Tulsa	63	Honolulu
34	New Orleans	48	San Antonio	4.8	Oklahoma City	14.8	San Francisco
30	Charleston	36	Fresno	3.0	Tucson	9.2	Los Angeles
29	Baton Rouge	33	Miami	1.8	Phoenix	8.6	Fresno
29	Richmond	33	Los Angeles	1.3	Bakersfield	7.9	San Diego
28	Norfolk-Virginia Beach -Newport News	28	Bakersfield	1.1	Sacramento	7.7	Sacramento
27	Birmingham	25	Tucson	1.1	Fresno	6.4	Seattle
26	Washington, DC	21	Austin	1.1	Wichita	5.2	Washington
26	Atlanta	21	Houston	0.9	Portland	4.8	New York City
26	Baltimore	16	Phoenix	0.9	Las Vegas	3.6	Houston

For the rank of these and other characteristics for the "top" 77 cities, see the U.S. Bureau of the Census web site.

Source: Time, 30 October 2006.

In 2000, half of us earn less than $30,000 a year, 90% less than $100,000. To get an idea of how we value our values, Howard Stern earns every 24 seconds what takes a cop or a teacher about a week. Parents hoping to persuade their children to buckle down in school might try this: as an adult, the more you know the less you'll have to work. Those with a high school degree or less spend far more of their time on the job than those with a college degree or beyond. Source: Time, 30 October 2006.

Created by Ingolf Vogeler on 30 April 1996; last revised on 02/01/10.