Author: Jeff Rosenthal
September 15 - October 15, 2021 has been declared Hispanic Heritage Month in North Carolina. The following are the latest population and labor force data:
Hispanics have grown in terms of population and labor force
- From the 2020 Decennial Census, North Carolina is one of 13 states that have at least 1,000,000 residents that are of Hispanic Origin. This population of 1,118,596 represents a growth of 318,476 or 39.8% over the value from the previous 2010 Decennial Census. This represents both a faster growth rate than the non-Hispanic population (6.7%) in North Carolina, and the 3rd fastest growth rate among growth rate among states with a large Hispanic population (over 1 million).
- Similarly, the Hispanic civilian labor force grew from 2010-2020, and grew faster than the non-Hispanic labor force.
- The Hispanic labor force grew from 352,165 to 559,896- an increase of 59% compared with the increase of the non-Hispanic civilian labor force (4%).*
Hispanics have a higher labor force participation rate than non-Hispanics
- Among North Carolinians 16 years and older, Hispanics have a civilian labor force participation rate of 68.0% in 2020 while non-Hispanics have a labor force participation rate of 58.3%.*
- A key reason for the difference in participation rates between the groups is that the Hispanic population in North Carolina is younger than the non-Hispanic population. Among those of working age (16 years and older) in North Carolina, the Hispanic population has a greater percentage of people aged 16-54 (84.0%) than the non-Hispanic population (59.0%).*
