Maryland’s Hispanic population is the 20th largest in the nation. More than 341,000 Hispanics reside in Maryland, 1% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are 112,000 eligible Hispanic voters in Maryland, 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 Maryland, with comparative data for the U.S. All data are from the Census Bureau’s 2006 American Community Survey.³

Hispanics in Maryland’s Eligible Voter Population

• Maryland’s population is 6% Hispanic, the 28th highest Hispanic population share nationally. New Mexico ranks first with 45%.
• Almost 3% of eligible voters in Maryland are Latinos, the 26th largest Hispanic eligible voter population share nationally. New Mexico ranks first with 38%.
• One-third of Latinos in Maryland are eligible to vote, ranking 38th nationwide in the share of the Hispanic population that is eligible to vote.

  

Characteristics of Eligible Voters

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  Maryland’s Hispanic eligible voters are younger than all eligible voters in Maryland—32% of Hispanic eligible voters in Maryland are ages 18 to 29 versus 21% of all Maryland eligible voters.

• Latino eligible voters in Maryland are much more likely to be naturalized citizens than are all Maryland eligible voters—41% versus 7%. They are also more likely to be naturalized than are all Latino eligible voters nationwide (26%).
• The proportion of Hispanic eligible voters in Maryland who have attended college or earned at least a bachelor’s degree is nearly equal to the proportion of all Maryland eligible voters who have this level of education—57% of Hispanics versus 59% of all eligible voters in Maryland. They also 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 Maryland are less likely to live in an owner-occupied home than all eligible voters in Maryland—66% versus 73%.

Characteristics of Eligible Voters in Maryland, by Race and Ethnicity

• Black eligible voters outnumber Latino eligible voters in Maryland by a margin of nearly 10 to 1—1.1 million blacks compared with 112,000 Latino eligible voters. Latino and Asian eligible voters are nearly balanced—112,000 Latinos versus 129,000 Asians.
• Hispanic eligible voters are younger than white, black or Asian eligible voters in Maryland—32% of Hispanic eligible voters are ages 18 to 29 compared with 18% of white, 24% of black and 19% of Asian eligible voters.
• Latino eligible voters in Maryland are more likely to be citizens by birth (59%) than are Asian eligible voters (22%).
• Hispanic eligible voters are less likely than white eligible voters in Maryland to live in owner-occupied homes—66% versus 80%.