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 September 16, Cinco de Mayo has become a time to celebrate Mexican heritage and culture.

Mexican Population

31.8 million – The number of U.S. residents of Mexican origin, according to the 2010 Census. These residents accounted for about three-quarters (63 percent) of the 50.5 million Hispanics and increased 54 percent, growing from 20.6 million in 2000 to 31.8 million in 2010.

25.5 – Median age of people in the United States of Mexican origin. The total Hispanic population had a median age of 27.2 and for the total population it was 37.2.

Geographic Distribution

61% – Percentage of the Mexican-origin population in the United States that resided in California (11.4 million) and Texas (8.0 million) in 2010.

40 – Number of states in which the Mexican-origin population represented the largest Hispanic group, according to the 2010 Census. More than half these states were in the South and West regions of the country, two in the Northeast region, and in all 12 states in the Midwest region.

Military

685,000 – Number of U.S. military veterans of Mexican origin.

Education

1.5 million  – Number of people of Mexican descent 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher. This included about 404,000 who had a graduate or professional degree.

Families

34.0% – Percentage of married-couple families, with own children younger than 18, among households with a householder of Mexican origin. For all households, the corresponding percentage was 20 percent.

4.2 people – Average size of families with a householder of Mexican origin in 2010. The average size of all families was 3.2 people.       

Jobs

67.8% – Percentage 16 and older of Mexican origin in the labor force. The percentage was 64 percent for the population as a whole.

16.2% – Percentage of civilians employed 16 years and older of Mexican origin who worked in management, business, science and arts occupations. In addition, 27 percent worked in service occupations; 21 percent in sales and office occupations; 18 percent in natural resources, construction and maintenance occupations; and 18 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations.

Income and Wealth

$39,264 – Median family income in 2010 for households with a householder of Mexican origin. For the population as a whole, the corresponding amount was $60,609.

26.6% – Poverty rate in 2010 for all people of Mexican heritage. For the population as a whole, the corresponding rate was 15.3 percent.

24.2% – Poverty rate in 2010 for all families of Mexican heritage. For all families, the corresponding family poverty rate was 11.3 percent.

Ownership

49.2% – Percentage of householders of Mexican origin in occupied housing units who owned the home in which they lived. This compared with 65.4 percent for the population as a whole.

Foreign-Born

11.7 million – Number of Mexican-born U.S. residents in 2010, representing 29 percent of the foreign-born population.

Language spoken at home

75.3%- Percentage of Mexican-origin people who spoke a language other than English at home; among these people, 36 percent spoke English less than “very well.” Among the population as a whole, the corresponding figures were 21 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

Trade with Mexico

 

$460.6 billion

The value of total goods traded between the United States and Mexico in 2011. Mexico was our nation’s third-leading trading partner, after Canada and China. The leading U.S. export commodity to Mexico in 2011 was unleaded gasoline ($11.6 billion); the leading U.S. import commodity from Mexico in 2011 was crude petroleum ($29.9 billion).

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.

$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.

47.8% – Percentage increase in the number of businesses owned by people of Mexican origin between 2002 and 2007.

70.5%- Percent of all Mexican-owned U.S. businesses in either California or Texas 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).

16.5%- Ratio of Mexican-owned firms to all firms in Texas, 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).

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.

Mexican Food

$100.4 million – Product shipment value of tamales and other Mexican food specialties (not frozen or canned) produced in the United States in 2002.

$48.9 million- Product shipment value of frozen enchiladas produced in the United States in 2002. Frozen tortilla shipments were valued even higher at $156 million.

374 – Number of U.S. tortilla manufacturing establishments in 2008. The establishments that produce this unleavened flat bread employed 16,311 people. Tortillas, the principal food of the Aztecs, are known as the “bread of Mexico.” One in three of these establishments was in Texas.