3 Percent of Americans are Mixed-Race
Cheryl Wetzstein, Washington Times, Apr. 8
More than 7 million Americans — nearly 3 percent of the U.S. population — have parents of more than one race, the Census Bureau says in its first full portrait of the nation’s multiracial population.
The two most common combinations are white with “some other race” (2.3 million people) and white with “American Native and Alaska Native” (1.2 million people), said the report, which is based on first-of-its-kind data collected in the 2000 census.
Almost a half-million people were a mixture of black and “some other race.”
Because Hispanics may be of any race, the bureau placed them in the “some other race” category. About 31 percent of all mixed-race persons said they had a Hispanic heritage.
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Data show that the mixed-race population is youthful — more than 40 percent are 18 or younger.
Mixed-race persons 15 and older are less likely to be married compared with the overall U.S. population — 27 percent versus 37 percent, respectively. They are also more likely to be foreign-born than the U.S. population — 24 percent versus 11 percent, respectively.
The mixed-race population is less likely to finish high school, but more likely to go to college, than the general population. They are also more likely to be in service, sales, construction, production or transportation jobs.
The median family income of a mixed-race couple is $39,432, compared with $50,046 of all U.S. families. Mixed-race children are also more likely to live in poverty than the overall child population — nearly 20 percent, compared with nearly 17 percent, respectively.
