North Carolina’s Hispanic population is the 12th largest in the nation. About 595,000 Hispanics reside in North Carolina, representing 1% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are 120,000 eligible Hispanic voters in North Carolina, less than 1% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters.1 This fact sheet provides key demographic information on Latino eligible voters.2 It also contains data on other major groups of eligible voters in North Carolina, with comparative data for the U.S. All data are from the Census Bureau’s 2006 American Community Survey.3

Hispanics in North Carolina’s Eligible Voter Population

  • North Carolina’s population is 7% Hispanic, ranking 25th in the Hispanic population share nationally. New Mexico ranks first with 45%.
  • Almost 2% of eligible voters in North Carolina are Latinos, the 35th largest Hispanic eligible voter population share nationally. New Mexico is first at 38%.
  • Approximately 20% of Latinos in North Carolina are eligible to vote, ranking last nationwide in the share of the Hispanic population that is eligible to vote.

Characteristics of Eligible Voters

  • North Carolina’s Hispanic eligible voters are younger than all eligible voters in North Carolina—36% of Hispanic eligible voters in North Carolina are ages 18 to 29 versus 21% of all North Carolina eligible voters.
  • Latino eligible voters in North Carolina are much more likely to be naturalized citizens than are all North Carolina eligible voters—31% versus 2%. They are also more likely to be naturalized than are all Latino eligible voters nationwide (26%).
  • The proportion of Hispanic eligible voters in North Carolina who have attended college or earned at least a bachelor’s degree is less than the proportion of all North Carolina eligible voters who have this level of education—45% of Hispanics versus 53% of all eligible voters in North Carolina. They do have a higher level of education than all Hispanic eligible voters nationwide, only 41% of whom have attended college or earned a bachelor’s degree or more.
  • Latino eligible voters in North Carolina are less likely to live in an owner-ohome than all eligible voters in North Carolina—53% versus 71%.

Characteristics of Eligible Voters in North Carolina, by Race and Ethnicity

  • Black eligible voters outnumber Latino eligible voters in North Carolina by a margin of nearly 11 to 1—1.3 million blacks compared with 120,000 Latino eligible voters.
  • Hispanic eligible voters are younger than white or black eligible voters in North Carolina—36% of Hispanic eligible voters are ages 18 to 29 compared with 19% of white and 25% of black eligible voters.
  • Hispanic eligible voters (45%) and black eligible voters (42%) are less likely than white eligible voters (56%) to have attended college.
  • Hispanic eligible voters (53%) and black eligible voters (53%) are less likely than white eligible voters (77%) in North Carolina to live in owner-occupied homes.