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Data From the U.S. Census Bureau

The United States truly is a melting pot of ethnicities and cultures from all over the world. The following two charts show just how diverse the country is, with information from the U.S. Census Bureau on the growth of various ancestries here between 1990 and 2000. The first chart looks at national population trends, while the second one provides ancestral data for individual regions and states.

Chart 1: Ancestries With 100,000 or More People in the United States

Chart 2: Largest Ancestries for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico

Ancestries With 100,000 or More People in 2000: 1990 and 2000
(Data based on sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)
Ancestry	1990		2000		Change, 1990 to 2000
Ancestry	Number	Percent of total population	Number	Percent of total population	Numerical	Percent
Total population	248,709,873	100.0	281,421,906	100.0	32,712,033	13.2
African*	245,845	0.1	1,183,316	0.4	937,471	381.3
African American* ^[1,2]	23,750,256	9.5	24,903,412	8.8	1,153,156	4.9
Albanian	47,710	-	113,661	-	65,951	138.2
American*	12,395,999	5.0	20,188,305	7.2	7,792,306	62.9
American Indian	8,689,344	3.5	7,876,568	2.8	-812,776	-9.4
Arab*	127,364	0.1	205,822	0.1	78,458	61.6
Armenian	308,096	0.1	385,488	0.1	77,392	25.1
Asian*	107,172	-	238,960	0.1	131,788	123.0
Asian Indian	569,338	0.2	1,546,703	0.5	977,365	171.7
Austrian	864,783	0.3	730,336	0.3	-134,447	-15.5
Belgian	380,403	0.2	348,531	0.1	-31,872	-8.4
Brazilian	65,875	-	181,076	0.1	115,201	174.9
British	1,119,140	0.4	1,085,718	0.4	-33,422	-3.0
Cambodian ^[2]	134,955	0.1	197,093	0.1	62,138	46.0
Canadian	549,990	0.2	638,548	0.2	88,558	16.1
Chinese	1,505,229	0.6	2,271,562	0.8	766,333	50.9
Colombian	351,717	0.1	583,986	0.2	232,269	66.0
Croatian ^[1]	544,270	0.2	374,241	0.1	-170,029	-31.2
Cuban	859,739	0.3	1,097,594	0.4	237,855	27.7
Czech	1,296,369	0.5	1,258,452	0.4	-37,917	-2.9
Czechoslovakian	315,285	0.1	441,403	0.2	126,118	40.0
Danish	1,634,648	0.7	1,430,897	0.5	-203,751	-12.5
Dominican ^[1,2]	505,690	0.2	908,531	0.3	402,841	79.7
Dutch	6,226,339	2.5	4,541,770	1.6	-1,684,569	-27.1
Ecuadorian ^[1]	197,374	0.1	322,965	0.1	125,591	63.6
Egyptian	78,574	-	142,832	0.1	64,258	81.8
English	32,651,788	13.1	24,509,692	8.7	-8,142,096	-24.9
European*	466,718	0.2	1,968,696	0.7	1,501,978	321.8
Filipino	1,450,512	0.6	2,116,478	0.8	665,966	45.9
Finnish	658,854	0.3	623,559	0.2	-35,295	-5.4
French	10,320,656	4.1	8,309,666	3.0	-2,010,990	-19.5
French Canadian ^[1,2]	2,167,127	0.9	2,349,684	0.8	182,557	8.4
German ^[1]	57,947,171	23.3	42,841,569	15.2	-15,105,602	-26.1
Greek	1,110,292	0.4	1,153,295	0.4	43,003	3.9
Guatemalan	241,559	0.1	463,502	0.2	221,943	91.9
Guyanese	81,665	-	162,425	0.1	80,760	98.9
Haitian ^[1,2]	289,521	0.1	548,199	0.2	258,678	89.3
Hawaiian	256,081	0.1	334,858	0.1	78,777	30.8
Hispanic*	1,113,259	0.4	2,451,109	0.9	1,337,850	120.2
Hmong	84,823	-	140,528	-	55,705	65.7
Honduran	116,635	-	266,848	0.1	150,213	128.8
Hungarian	1,582,302	0.6	1,398,702	0.5	-183,600	-11.6
Iranian	235,521	0.1	338,266	0.1	102,745	43.6
Irish ^[1]	38,735,539	15.6	30,524,799	10.8	-8,210,740	-21.2
Israeli	81,677	-	106,839	-	25,162	30.8
Italian ^[1,2]	14,664,189	5.9	15,638,348	5.6	974,159	6.6
Jamaican ^[1,2]	435,024	0.2	736,513	0.3	301,489	69.3
Japanese	1,004,622	0.4	1,103,325	0.4	98,703	9.8
Korean ^[1,2]	836,987	0.3	1,190,353	0.4	353,366	42.2
Laotian	146,947	0.1	179,866	0.1	32,919	22.4
Latin American*	43,521	-	250,052	0.1	206,531	474.6
Lebanese ^[1,2]	394,180	0.2	440,279	0.2	46,099	11.7
Lithuanian	811,865	0.3	659,992	0.2	-151,873	-18.7
Mexican ^[1,2]	11,580,038	4.7	18,382,291	6.5	6,802,253	58.7
Nicaraguan	177,077	0.1	230,358	0.1	53,281	30.1
Nigerian ^[1,2]	91,499	-	164,691	0.1	73,192	80.0
Northern European*	65,993	-	163,657	0.1	97,664	148.0
Norwegian^[2]	3,869,395	1.6	4,477,725	1.6	608,330	15.7
Pakistani	99,974	-	253,193	0.1	153,219	153.3
Panamanian	88,649	-	119,497	-	30,848	34.8
Pennsylvania German	305,841	0.1	255,807	0.1	-50,034	-16.4
Peruvian	161,886	0.1	292,991	0.1	131,125	81.0
Polish ^[1,2]	9,366,051	3.8	8,977,235	3.2	-388,816	-4.2
Portuguese	1,148,857	0.5	1,173,691	0.4	24,834	2.2
Puerto Rican	1,955,323	0.8	2,652,598	0.9	697,275	35.7
Romanian	365,531	0.1	367,278	0.1	1,747	(NS)
Russian	2,951,373	1.2	2,652,214	0.9	-299,159	-10.1
Salvadoran	499,153	0.2	802,743	0.3	303,590	60.8
Scandinavian	678,880	0.3	425,099	0.2	-253,781	-37.4
Scotch-Irish	5,617,773	2.3	4,319,232	1.5	-1,298,541	-23.1
Scottish	5,393,581	2.2	4,890,581	1.7	-503,000	-9.3
Serbian	116,795	-	140,337	-	23,542	0.2
Slavic	76,923	-	127,136	-	50,213	65.3
Slovak^[1]	1,882,897	0.8	797,764	0.3	-1,085,133	-57.6
Slovene	124,437	0.1	176,691	0.1	52,254	42.0
Spaniard	360,858	0.1	299,948	0.1	-60,910	-16.9
Spanish	2,024,004	0.8	2,187,144	0.8	163,140	8.1
Swedish	4,680,863	1.9	3,998,310	1.4	-682,553	-14.6
Swiss	1,045,492	0.4	911,502	0.3	-133,990	-12.8
Syrian	129,606	0.1	142,897	0.1	13,291	10.3
Taiwanese ^[1,2]	192,973	0.1	293,568	0.1	100,595	52.1
Thai^[1]	112,117	-	146,577	0.1	34,460	30.7
Trinidadian and Tobagonian	76,270	-	164,738	0.1	88,468	116.0
Turkish	83,850	-	117,575	-	33,725	40.2
Ukrainian ^[1,2]	740,723	0.3	892,922	0.3	152,199	20.5
United States*	643,561	0.3	404,328	0.1	-239,233	-37.2
Vietnamese	535,825	0.2	1,029,420	0.4	493,595	92.1
Welsh	2,033,893	0.8	1,753,794	0.6	-280,099	-13.8
West Indian*	159,167	0.1	147,222	0.1	-11,945	-7.5
Western European*	42,409	-	125,300	-	82,891	195.5
White*	1,799,711	0.7	3,834,122	1.4	2,034,411	113.0
Yugoslavian	257,986	0.1	328,547	0.1	70,561	27.4
Other ancestries	3,989,728	1.6	4,380,380	1.6	390,652	9.8
- Rounds to 0.0. * General response which may encompass several ancestries not listed separately (i.e., African American includes Black and Negro). NS Not statistically different from zero at the 90-percent confidence level. ^[1] Included in the list of examples on the census questionnaire in 1990. ^[2] Included in the list of examples on the census questionnaire in 2000. Notes: Because of sampling error, the estimates in this table may not be significantly different from one another or from other ancestries not listed in this table. People who reported two ancestries were included once in each category. The estimates in this table differ slightly in some cases from the estimates in other data products due to the collapsing schemes used. For example, here German does not include Bavarian. Some groups correspond to groups identified separately in the race and Hispanic-origin questions. The race item provides the primary source of data for White, Black, American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian groups, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander groups. The Hispanic-origin question is the primary identifier for Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and other Hispanic groups. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 1990 Census and Census 2000 special tabulations.

Largest Ancestries for the United States, Regions, States, and for Puerto Rico: 2000
(Data based on sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)
Ancestry	Total Population	Ancestry	%	Ancestry	%	Ancestry	%	Ancestry	%	Ancestry	%
United States	281,421,906	German	15.2	Irish	10.8	African Am.	8.8	English	8.7	American	7.2
Region
Northeast	53,594,378	Irish	15.8	Italian	14.1	German	13.6	English	8.3	African Am.	6.5
Midwest	64,392,776	German	26.6	Irish	11.8	English	8.4	African Am.	7.8	American	6.5
South	100,236,820	African Am.	14.0	American	11.2	German	10.0	Irish	8.8	English	8.4
West	63,197,932	Mexican	16.0	German	13.3	English	9.9	Irish	9.0	American	4.1
State
Alabama	4,447,100	African Am.	19.9	American	16.8	English	7.8	Irish	7.7	German	5.7
Alaska	626,932	German	16.6	Irish	10.8	Am. Indian	10.5	English	9.6	Eskimo	6.1
Arizona	5,130,632	Mexican	18.0	German	15.6	English	10.4	Irish	10.2	Am. Indian	6.1
Arkansas	2,673,400	American	15.7	African Am.	11.9	Irish	9.5	German	9.3	English	7.9
California	33,871,648	Mexican	22.2	German	9.8	Irish	7.7	English	7.4	African Am.	5.1
Colorado	4,301,261	German	22	Irish	12.2	English	12.0	Mexican	9.0	American	5.0
Connecticut	3,405,565	Italian	18.6	Irish	16.6	English	10.3	German	9.8	Polish	8.3
Delaware	783,600	Irish	16.6	German	14.3	African Am.	14.0	English	12.1	Italian	9.3
District of Columbia	572,059	African Am.	43.4	Irish	4.9	German	4.8	English	4.4	Salvadoran	2.3
Florida	15,982,378	German	11.8	Irish	10.3	English	9.2	African Am.	8.6	American	7.8
Georgia	8,186,453	African Am.	21.6	American	13.3	English	8.1	Irish	7.8	German	7.0
Hawaii	1,211,537	Japanese	20.7	Filipino	17.7	Hawaiian	16.3	Chinese	8.3	German	5.8
Idaho	1,293,953	German	18.8	English	18.1	Irish	10.0	American	8.1	Mexican	5.5
Illinois	12,419,293	German	19.6	Irish	12.2	African Am.	11.5	Mexican	8.2	Polish	7.5
Indiana	6,080,485	German	22.6	American	11.8	Irish	10.8	English	8.9	African Am.	6.5
Iowa	2,926,324	German	35.7	Irish	13.5	English	9.5	American	6.6	Norwegian	5.7
Kansas	2,688,418	German	25.8	Irish	11.5	English	10.8	American	8.7	Mexican	4.7
Kentucky	4,041,769	American	20.7	German	12.7	Irish	10.5	English	9.7	African Am.	5.7
Louisiana	4,468,976	African Am.	25.5	French	12.2	American	10.0	German	7.0	Irish	7.0
Maine	1,274,923	English	21.5	Irish	15.1	French	14.2	American	9.3	Fr. Canadian	8.6
Maryland	5,296,486	African Am.	20.5	German	15.7	Irish	11.7	English	9.0	American	5.6
Massachusetts	6,349,097	Irish	22.5	Italian	13.5	English	11.4	French	8.0	German	5.9
Michigan	9,938,444	German	20.4	African Am.	11.0	Irish	10.7	English	9.9	Polish	8.6
Minnesota	4,919,479	German	36.7	Norwegian	17.3	Irish	11.2	Swedish	9.9	English	6.3
Mississippi	2,844,658	African Am.	28.3	American	14.0	Irish	6.9	English	6.1	German	4.5
Missouri	5,595,211	German	23.5	Irish	12.7	American	10.4	English	9.5	African Am.	8.8
Montana	902,195	German	27.0	Irish	14.8	English	12.6	Norwegian	10.6	Am. Indian	7.4
Nebraska	1,711,263	German	38.6	Irish	13.4	English	9.6	Swedish	4.9	Czech	4.9
Nevada	1,998,257	German	14.1	Mexican	12.7	Irish	11.0	English	10.1	Italian	6.6
New Hampshire	1,235,786	Irish	19.4	English	18.0	French	14.6	Fr. Canadian	10.3	German	8.6
New Jersey	8,414,350	Italian	17.8	Irish	15.9	German	12.6	African Am.	8.8	Polish	6.9
New Mexico	1,819,046	Mexican	16.3	Am. Indian	10.3	German	9.8	Hispanic	9.4	Spanish	9.3
New York	18,976,457	Italian	14.4	Irish	12.9	German	11.2	African Am.	7.7	English	6.0
North Carolina	8,049,313	African Am.	16.6	American	13.7	English	9.5	German	9.5	Irish	7.4
North Dakota	642,200	German	43.9	Norwegian	30.1	Irish	7.7	Am. Indian	5.1	Swedish	5.0
Ohio	11,353,140	German	25.2	Irish	12.7	English	9.2	African Am.	9.1	American	8.5
Oklahoma	3,450,654	German	12.6	Am. Indian	12.1	American	11.2	Irish	10.3	English	8.4
Oregon	3,421,399	German	20.5	English	13.2	Irish	11.9	American	6.2	Mexican	5.5
Pennsylvania	12,281,054	German	25.4	Irish	16.1	Italian	11.5	English	7.9	African Am.	7.4
Rhode Island	1,048,319	Italian	19.0	Irish	8.4	English	12.0	French	10.9	Portuguese	8.7
South Carolina	4,012,012	African Am.	22.8	American	13.7	German	8.4	English	8.2	Irish	7.9
South Dakota	754,844	German	40.7	Norwegian	15.3	Irish	10.4	Am. Indian	8.2	English	7.1
Tennessee	5,689,283	American	17.3	African Am.	13.0	Irish	9.3	English	9.1	German	8.3
Texas	20,851,820	Mexican	22.6	German	9.9	African Am.	8.7	Irish	7.2	American	7.2
Utah	2,233,169	English	29.0	German	11.5	American	6.6	Danish	6.5	Irish	5.9
Vermont	608,827	English	18.4	Irish	16.4	French	14.5	German	9.1	Fr. Canadian	8.8
Virginia	7,078,515	African Am.	14.9	German	11.7	American	11.2	English	11.1	Irish	9.8
Washington	5,894,121	German	18.7	English	12.0	Irish	11.4	Norwegian	6.2	American	5.2
West Virginia	1,808,344	American	18.7	German	14.0	Irish	11.0	English	9.7	Am. Indian	4.4
Wisconsin	5,363,675	German	42.6	Irish	10.9	Polish	9.3	Norwegian	8.5	English	6.5
Wyoming	493,782	German	25.9	English	15.9	Irish	13.3	American	6.4	Am. Indian	4.7
Puerto Rico	3,808,610	Puerto Rican	69.0	American	2.5	Spaniard	2.1	Dominican	1.7	Hispanic	0.8
Notes: Because of sampling error, the estimates in this table may not be significantly different from one another or from other ancestries not listed in this table. People who reported two ancestries were included once in each category. Some groups correspond to groups identified separately in the race and Hispanic-origin questions. The race item provides the primary source of data for White, Black, American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian groups, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander groups. The Hispanic-origin question is the primary identifier for Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and other Hispanic groups. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 1990 Census and Census 2000 special tabulations.

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