An examination of 2000 Census data pertaining to five Hispanic populations in Kent, Ottawa, Muskegon and Allegan counties has revealed some unexpected socioeconomic details.
The report was prepared at the School of Public and Nonprofit Administration and the Community Research Institute at Grand Valley State University. Graduate research assistant Doug LaFave, assistant professor Mark Hoffman, and Geographic Information Systems Specialist Jeremy Pyne prepared the Ethnic Atlas using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Summary File 4.
The following are among the most interesting observations of the Mexican, Puerto Rican, Guatemalan, Cuban and Dominican populations in West Michigan:
- The Mexican heritage population is almost 47,000 persons, making it the largest of the Hispanic/Latino groups. Mexicans constitute about 68 percent of the Hispanic/Latino population and 4.3 percent of the general population in West Michigan.
- The Mexicans, with a median age of 22.6 years old, have the lowest median age among the five Hispanic/Latino groups in this study.
- Surprisingly, for full-time Puerto Rican workers, the median income is higher for females than for males with males earning $25,962 and females earning $26,042. The Puerto Rican female workforce has a median income ($26,042) almost equal to that of the general female workforce ($27,877).
- Most of the Guatemalan population of 2,061 is a relatively recent addition to West Michigan, with 80.1 percent arriving in the 1990s. Because most Guatemalans are relatively recent immigrants, about three quarters are not U.S. citizens.
- Only 16 percent of the Guatemalan population over age 25 has a high school diploma and only 2.9 percent has either an associates or bachelor's degree.
- Cubans have been established in West Michigan longer than the other Hispanic/Latino groups. About 22 percent of the Cuban population came before 1970.
- The Cuban population is the oldest when compared to the other Hispanic/Latino groups, with the average age being 30.5 years.
- Among the five Hispanic/Latino groups, the Cuban population has the highest home ownership rate (65%). Home-owning Cubans also have the highest median home value ($121,500), $6,700 higher than that of the general population.
- The Dominican population has a relatively high average family size: almost 4 persons per family. Only 11.5 percent of families are without children.
- The Dominican population is different from the other Hispanic/Latino groups in that there are more females than males among the population 15 years of age and older.
Results are based on the sample of households who responded to the
census long form in April 2000. About 1-in-6 housing units were
included.
This information, along with tables, maps, and population pyramids, is available in the Ethnic Atlas of West Michigan, Volume I1: Demographic, Economic, Social, and Housing Characteristics of the Hispanic Populations. Copies of the Ethnic Atlas are available for download at www.cridata.org.
