U.S. Census Bureau Facts for Features: Cinco de Mayo

WASHINGTON, April 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Cinco de Mayo celebrates the legendary Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, in which a Mexican force of 4,500 men faced 6,000 well-trained French soldiers. The battle lasted four hours and ended in a victory for the Mexican army under Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza. Along with Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 16, Cinco de Mayo has become a time to celebrate Mexican heritage and culture.

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Mexican Population

33.6 million
The number of U.S. residents of Mexican origin.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|400|401

25.7
Median age of people in the United States of Mexican origin in 2011. The total Hispanic population had a median age of 27.5, and for the total population it was 37.3 in 2011.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|400|401

Geographic Distribution

12.0 million
Total number of the Mexican-origin population in the United States that resided in California in 2011. For Texas, the number was 8.6 million.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201/0400000US06|0400000US48/popgroup~001|400|401

Veterans

700,000
Number of U.S. military veterans of Mexican origin in 2011.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~401

Education

1.65 million
Number of people of Mexican descent 25 and older with a bachelor's degree or higher in 2011. This included  450,000 who had a graduate or professional degree.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~401

Families

33.3%
Percentage of married-couple families, with own children younger than 18, among households with a householder of Mexican origin in 2011. For all households, the corresponding percentage was 20.0 percent.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401

4.17 people
Average size of families with a householder of Mexican origin in 2011. The average size of all families was 3.25 people.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401

Jobs

67.4%
Percentage 16 and older of Mexican origin in the labor force in 2011. The percentage was 64.0 percent for the population as a whole.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401

16.4%
Percentage of employed civilians 16 years and older of Mexican origin who worked in management, business, science and arts occupations in 2011. In addition, 26.7 percent worked in service occupations; and 21.1 percent in sales and office occupations. With 17.8 percent in natural resources, construction and maintenance occupations and 18.0 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations these professions are not significantly different in ranking.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401

Income and Wealth

$38,884
The annual median income of households with a householder of Mexican origin in 2011. For the population as a whole, the corresponding amount was $50,502.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401

27.5%
Poverty rate in 2011 for all people of Mexican heritage. For the population as a whole, the corresponding rate was 15.9 percent.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401

25.0%
Poverty rate in 2011 for all families of Mexican heritage. For all families, the corresponding family poverty rate was 11.7 percent.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401

Ownership

48.5%
Percentage of householders of Mexican origin in occupied housing units who owned the home in which they lived. For all householders, the corresponding rate was 64.6 percent.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401

Foreign-Born

11.6 million      
Number of U.S. residents of Mexican origin in 2011 who were foreign born, including 53.4 percent male and 46.6 percent female.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401

Language spoken at home

74.6%
Percentage of Mexican-origin people who spoke a language other than English at home in 2011; among these people, 34.3 percent spoke English less than "very well." Among the population as a whole, the corresponding figures were 20.8 percent and 8.7 percent, respectively.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401

Trade with Mexico

$494.0 billion
The value of total goods traded between the United States and Mexico in 2012. Mexico was our nation's third-leading trading partner, after Canada and China.  The leading U.S. export commodity to Mexico in 2012 was light oils and preparations ($11.7 billion); the leading U.S. import commodity from Mexico in 2012 was crude oil ($37.3 billion).
Source:  Foreign Trade Statistics
http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/top/top1212yr.html
http://data.usatradeonline.gov/usatrade/View/dispview.aspx

Mexican Food

367
Number of U.S. tortilla manufacturing establishments in 2010, with 116 of these establishments located in Texas. The establishments that produce this unleavened flat bread employed 16,143 people. Tortillas, the principal food of the Aztecs, are known as the "bread of Mexico."
Source: County Business Patterns: 2010
http://www.census.gov/econ/cbp/

Businesses

1.0 million
Number of firms owned by people of Mexican origin in 2007. They accounted for 45.8 percent of all Hispanic-owned firms. Mexicans led all Hispanic subgroups.
Source: Hispanic-Owned Firms: 2007
http://www.census.gov/econ/sbo/

$154.9 billion
Sales and receipts for firms owned by people of Mexican origin in 2007, 44.2 percent of all Hispanic-owned firm receipts.
Source: Hispanic-Owned Firms: 2007
http://www.census.gov/econ/sbo/

47.8%
Percentage increase in the number of businesses owned by people of Mexican origin between 2002 and 2007.
Source: Hispanic-Owned Firms: 2007   http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/business_ownership/cb10-145.html

70.5%
Percentage of all Mexican-owned U.S. businesses in California and Texas combined in 2007. California had the most Mexican-owned U.S. firms (36.1 percent), followed by Texas (34.4 percent) and Arizona (4.1 percent).
Source: Hispanic-Owned Firms: 2007
http://www.census.gov/econ/sbo/

16.5%
Percentage of all firms in Texas that were Mexican-owned in 2007, which led all states. New Mexico was next (15.1 percent), followed by California (10.9 percent), Arizona (8.6 percent) and Nevada (4.9 percent).
Source: Hispanic-Owned Firms: 2007
http://www.census.gov/econ/sbo/

32.3%
Percentage of Mexican-owned U.S. firms in the construction and repair, maintenance, personal and laundry services sectors. Mexican-owned firms accounted for 5.1 percent of all U.S. businesses in these sectors.
Source: Hispanic-Owned Firms: 2007
http://www.census.gov/econ/sbo/

Following is a list of observances typically covered by the Census Bureau's Facts for Features series:

Editor's note: The preceding data were collected from a variety of sources and may be subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. Facts for Features are customarily released about two months before an observance in order to accommodate magazine production timelines. Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureau's Public Information Office: telephone: 301-763-3030 or e-mail: [email protected].

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau