By La Noticia MS
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The poverty rate for Latinos in the United States was 16.8% for 2022, far below the 25% registered in 2012, though far higher than the average rate of 11.5% across all groups, according to a new report from the Census Bureau.
Some 10 million Latinos live in poverty nationwide, with Alabama home to the highest percentage (25%), according to the federal agency. Montana had the second highest percentage (24.2%) of Latinos who live below the poverty line, followed by Pennsylvania (23.9%).
Wyoming had the fewest Latinos living in poverty (10.2%), likely due to the number of well-paying jobs in the state tied to the oil and gas sector.
The percentage of Latinos living in poverty remained around 22% for much of the 1970s but shot upwards to 29% in the 1980s as the population continued to increase.
North Dakota, where many are employed in the oil and gas sector, experienced the fastest increase in its Latino population of all states during the past decade. Some 12.5% of Latinos in the state are living below the poverty line.
Reflecting the growth of the Latino population of all racial backgrounds, Latinos accounted for one-fifth of the U.S. population in 2023. This makes them the country’s second largest demographic group after whites, according to the Census Bureau.
The Latino population surpassed 65 million after growing by more than 1.2 million since 2022, an increase of 1.8% for a population total of 65,219,145.
Among states, California (15.8 million), Texas (12.1 million) and Florida (6.2 million) are home to the largest Latino populations in the country.
“The Latino population is expanding at a faster rate than the non-Latino population, mainly due to natural growth, in other words, more births than deaths,” said the Census Bureau’s Kristie Wilder.
In the past decade, the participation rate among Latinos in the work force increased significantly, alongside rising graduation rates, factors behind the decrease in poverty levels.
The official poverty rate in the U.S. in 2022 was 11.5% with 37.9 million people living in poverty. Neither figure was much changed from 2021.
