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U.S. Population by Race and Ethnicity
The United States has a racially and ethnically diverse population. The overall racial and ethnic diversity has further increased in the past few decades, according to U.S. Census Bureau. United States Census recognized five racial categories (White, Black or African American, Asian American, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander) as well as people of two or more races (multi-racial)
The Census Bureau also classified respondents as “Hispanic or Latino” or “Not Hispanic or Latino”, identifying Hispanic and Latino as an ethnicity (not a race), which comprises the largest minority group in the nation. As of 2020, White Americans are the racial and ethnic majority. Hispanic and Latino Americans (who may belong to any racial group) are the largest ethnic minority, while Black or African Americans are the largest racial minority.
also read about the Population of the United States
Ethnic and Racial Percentage
The most prevalent racial or ethnic group in the United States was the White alone (non-Hispanic) population at 57.8%. This decreased from 63.7% in 2010. The Hispanic or Latino population was the second-largest racial or ethnic group, comprising 18.7% of the total population.
The Black or African American alone non-Hispanic population was the third-largest group at 12.1%. Asians were the fourth largest group at 5.90%. Muti-racial people from the fifth largest group with 4.10% population followed by Native Americans (0.70%), and Pacific Islanders (0.20%)
The 2020 U.S. Racial And Ethnic Makeup By Residents with One Race Reported
| Race and Origin | Population 2020 | Percentage (%) |
| White alone (Non-Hispanic) | 191,698,000 | 57.80% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 62,080,000 | 18.70% |
| Black or African American alone | 39,940,000 | 12.10% |
| Asian alone | 19,619,000 | 5.90% |
| Two or more races | 13,549,000 | 4.10% |
| Native Americans/Alaska Natives alone | 2,252,000 | 0.70% |
| Some other races alone | 1,690,000 | 0.50% |
| Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islanders alone | 622,000 | 0.20% |
read about religion in the United States
Race Categories
The 2000 census officially recognized six racial categories including people of two or more races; a category called “some other race” was also used in the census.
• White American, European American, or Middle Eastern American: those having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.
• Black or African American: those having origins in any of the native peoples of sub-Saharan Africa. For the 2000 census, this “includes people who indicated their race or races as “Black, African Am., or Negro,” or wrote in entries such as African American, Afro American, Nigerian, or Haitian”.
• American Indian or Alaska Native: those having origins in any of the original peoples of North, Central, and South America.
• Asian American: those having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.
• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: those having origins in any of the original peoples of Polynesia, Melanesia, or Micronesia.
• Two or more races/ multiracial: People who report more than one of the foregoing six options are classified as people of “two or more races” in subsequent processing. Any respondent may identify with any number (including all six) of the racial category
• Other Races: respondents who identified themselves if different from the preceding categories (e.g. Roma or Aboriginal/Indigenous Australian). However, 95% of the people who report in this category are Hispanic Mestizos.
The 2021 U.S. Population Racial Makeup alone without any combination
| # | Race | Pop. 2021 | Percentage |
| 1 | White (Including Hispanic) | 202,981,791 | 61.16% |
| 2 | Two or more races | 41,886,439 | 12.62% |
| 3 | Black or African American | 40,194,304 | 12.11% |
| 4 | Some other race | 23,902,781 | 7.20% |
| 6 | Asians | 19,157,288 | 5.77% |
| 6 | American Indians and Alaska Native | 3,158,694 | 0.95% |
| 7 | Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 612,448 | 0.18% |
Hispanic or Latino origin
The Census Bureau also classified respondents as “Hispanic or Latino” or “Not Hispanic or Latino”, identifying Hispanic and Latino as an ethnicity, which comprises the largest minority group in the nation. It includes people who are of full or partial Hispanic or Latino origin. They chiefly have origins in the Spanish-speaking nations of Latin America.
Each racial category may contain Non-Hispanic or Latino and Hispanic or Latino Americans. For example, the White or European American race category contains Non-Hispanic Whites and Hispanic Whites; the Black or African American category contains Non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanic Blacks; the Asian-American category contains Non-Hispanic Asians and Hispanic Asians, and likewise for all the other categories.
| # | US Ethnicity | Pop. 2021 | Percentage |
| 1 | Hispanic or Latino (of any race) | 62,529,064 | 18.84% |
| 2 | Not Hispanic or Latino | 269,364,681 | 81.16% |
Race and Ethnicity trends in States
The White alone non-Hispanic population was the most prevalent racial or ethnic group in all states except California, Hawaii, New Mexico, and the District of Columbia.
In 2020, the Hispanic or Latino population became the largest racial or ethnic group in California, comprising 39.4% of the total population, up from 37.6% in 2010. This differs from 2010 when the largest racial or ethnic group in California was the White alone non-Hispanic population, whose share declined from 40.1% in 2010 to 34.7% in 2020.
In 2020, we also saw shifts in the second-most prevalent group for some states.
• In West Virginia, the Multiracial non-Hispanic population (4.0%) became the second-most prevalent group, surpassing the Black or African American alone non-Hispanic population (3.6%).
• In Wisconsin, the Hispanic or Latino population (7.6%) became the second-most prevalent group, surpassing the Black or African American alone non-Hispanic population (6.2%).
• In Texas, the first- and second most prevalent group rankings did not change between 2010 and 2020, but the difference in size between the White alone non-Hispanic population (39.7%) and the Hispanic or Latino population (39.3%) shrank to 0.4 percentage points.
• For the District of Columbia, the difference in the size of the Black or African American alone non-Hispanic population (40.9%) and the White alone non-Hispanic population (38.0%) narrowed dramatically in 2020 with only a 2.9 percentage point difference.
• In contrast, the District of Columbia’s Black or African American alone non-Hispanic population was 50.0% and the White alone non-Hispanic population was 34.8% in 2010, a difference of 15.2 percentage points.
• Finally, 2020 Census results showed that Hawaii (21.8%) was the state with the highest diffusion score, followed by Alaska (17.9%), Oklahoma (17.8%), and Nevada (16.0%).
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