Race & Ethnicity

Racial categories, which have been on every U.S. census, have changed from decade to decade, reflecting the politics and science of the times.

Most Latino registered voters (71%) say they want government to be more involved in solving the nation’s problems.

54% of Hispanics in the U.S. say establishing a way for most unauthorized immigrants to stay in the country legally is very important.

Explore the different race, ethnicity and origin categories used in the U.S. decennial census, from the first one in 1790 to the latest count in 2020.

About three-quarters of black adults in the U.S. say that being black is extremely or very important to how they think about themselves.

Latinos are expected for the first time to be the nation’s largest racial or ethnicity minority in a U.S. presidential election.

More than 32 million Latinos are eligible to vote nationwide in the 2020 presidential elections. See how the share of Latino voters varies by state and congressional district.

Over half of Latino registered voters who are Democrats or lean toward the party have a good or excellent impression of the party's candidates.

In 1965, America’s verdict on Selma was clear: Polling showed the public clearly siding with the demonstrators, not with the state of Alabama.

Every year, we publish hundreds of reports, blog posts, digital essays and other studies. Here are some of our most noteworthy findings from the past year.