---
title: "V. Economic Characteristics"
description: "Hispanic students enrolled in public schools are more likely than their non-Hispanic counterparts to reside in households at or below the poverty level,[11. numoffset=”11″ For detailed information on how poverty status is determined, please see http://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variableDescription.do?mnemonic=POVERTY. Due to the way in which the IPUMS assigns poverty values, these data will differ from those that might […]"
date: "2008-08-26"
authors:
  - name: "Richard Fry"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2008/08/26/v-economic-characteristics/"
---

# V. Economic Characteristics

![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2008/08/2008-public-school-09.png)

Hispanic students enrolled in public schools are more likely than their non-Hispanic counterparts to reside in households at or below the poverty level,[11. numoffset="11" For detailed information on how poverty status is determined, please see [http://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variableDescription.do?mnemonic=POVERTY](https://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variables/POVERTY). Due to the way in which the IPUMS assigns poverty values, these data will differ from those that might be provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.] 28% versus 16%. Compared with non-Hispanic students, native-born Hispanic students (27%) in public schools are one-and-a-half times as likely to live in poverty, and foreign-born Hispanic students (35%) are twice as likely.

The median household income of non-Hispanic public school students is $60,372, and of Hispanic public school students it is $40,248. While 59% of non-Hispanic public school students live in households whose income exceeds $50,000, only 38% of Hispanics do.

The likelihood of living in a household with an income of more than $50,000 increases across generations for Hispanic public school students. Only a quarter (28%) of first-generation students live in a household with an income of more than $50,000, but this share increases to more than a third (37%) among second-generation students and nearly half (46%) among third-and-higher generation students.

![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2008/08/2008-public-school-10.png)

For Hispanic public school students, the likelihood of living in a household with an income over $50,000 is related to the educational attainment of their parents.[12. Data pertaining to parental educational levels are shown only for students living in a household with at least one parent. When a student resides with both parents, the highest level of parental education was used to assign parental education level.] As the share of Hispanic students who live in households with incomes of $50,000 or more increases across generations, the share of Hispanic students who live with a parent who does not have a high school diploma decreases. Half (50%) of all immigrant Hispanic students live with a parent who has not obtained a high school diploma. This share decreases to 42% among second-generation and 16% among third-and-higher generation Hispanic students.

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**Next:** [VI. Living Arrangements](https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2008/08/26/vi-living-arrangements.md)