Texas’s Hispanic population is the second largest in the nation. Nearly 8.4 million Hispanics reside in Texas, 19% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are 3.6 million eligible Hispanic voters in Texas, 20% 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 Texas, with comparative data for the U.S. All data are from the Census Bureau’s 2006 American Community Survey.³

Hispanics in Texas’s Eligible Voter Population

• Texas’s population is 36% Hispanic, the third-highest Hispanic population share nationally. New Mexico ranks first with 45%.
• Almost 25% of eligible voters in Texas are Latinos, the second-largest Hispanic eligible voter population share nationally. New Mexico ranks first with 38%.
• More than 43% of Latinos in Texas are eligible to vote, ranking 22nd nationwide in the share of the Hispanic population that is eligible to vote.

  

Characteristics of Eligible Voters

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  Texas’s Hispanic eligible voters are younger than all eligible voters in Texas—31% of Hispanic eligible voters in Texas are ages 18 to 29 versus 24% of all Texas eligible voters.

• Latino eligible voters in Texas are more likely to be naturalized citizens than are all Texas eligible voters—17% versus 7%. Texas Latino eligible voters are less likely to be naturalized than all Latino eligible voters nationwide—17% in Texas versus 26% nationwide.
• The proportion of Hispanic eligible voters in Texas who have attended college or earned at least a bachelor’s degree is lower than the proportion of all Texas eligible voters who have this level of education—37% of Hispanics versus 54% of all eligible voters in Texas.
• The percent of Latino eligible voters in Texas who live in an owner-occupied home is similar to that of all eligible voters in Texas—68% versus 70%.

Characteristics of Eligible Voters in Texas, by Race and Ethnicity

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  Latino eligible voters outnumber black eligible voters in Texas by a margin of nearly 2 to 1—3.6 million Latinos compared with 1.8 million black eligible voters.

• Hispanic eligible voters are younger than white or black eligible voters in Texas—31% of Hispanic eligible voters are ages 18 to 29 compared with 20% of white and 27% of black eligible voters.
• Hispanic eligible voters are less likely than other groups of eligible voters to have attended college—37% versus 62% for white and 48% for black eligible voters.
• Hispanic eligible voters are less likely than white eligible voters in Texas to live in owner-occupied homes—68% versus 75%. HHispanic eligible voters are more likely to reside in owner-occupied homes than black eligible voters—68% versus 49%.