Hispanics in the 2008 Election: Arizona

Arizona’s Hispanic population is the sixth-largest in the nation. Nearly 1.8 million Hispanics reside in Arizona, 4% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are 673,000 eligible Hispanic voters in Arizona, 4% 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 Arizona, with comparative data for the U.S. All data are from the Census Bureau’s 2006 American Community Survey.³

Hispanics in Arizona’s Eligible Voter Population

• Arizona’s population is 29% Hispanic, the fourth-highest Hispanic population share nationally behind New Mexico with 45%, California with 36% and Texas with 36%.
• 17% of eligible voters in Arizona are Latinos, the fourth-largest Hispanic eligible voter population share nationally behind New Mexico with 38%, Texas with 25% and California with 23%.
• 37% of Latinos in Arizona are eligible to vote, ranking Arizona 29th nationwide in the share of the Hispanic population that is eligible to vote.

Characteristics of Eligible Voters

• 32% of Hispanic eligible voters in Arizona are ages 18 to 29, similar to the share of all Latino eligible voters nationwide (31%) who are in that age range. By contrast, only 22% of all Arizona eligible voters and 22% of all U.S. eligible voters are ages 18 to 29.
• 19% of Hispanic eligible voters in Arizona are naturalized U.S. citizens compared with 7% of all Arizona eligible voters. Arizona’s Hispanic eligible voters are more likely to be native-born citizens (81%) than are Hispanic eligible voters nationwide (74%).
• 28% of Latino eligible voters in Arizona have not completed high school, more than double the 13% of all Arizona eligible voters who have not completed high school.
• 67% of Arizona Hispanic eligible voters live in owner-occupied homes compared with 60% of all Hispanic eligible voters nationwide. Somewhat greater shares of all eligible voters in Arizona (72%) and all eligible voters nationwide (71%) live in owner-occupied homes.

Characteristics of Eligible Voters in Arizona, by Race and Ethnicity

• Latino eligible voters outnumber Native American eligible voters in Arizona by more than 4 to 1.
• Latino and Native American eligible voters are younger than white eligible voters in Arizona. Almost equal shares of Latinos and Native Americans (32%) are ages 18 to 29 compared with 18% of white eligible voters.
• Hispanics and Native American eligible voters in Arizona are less likely to have completed high school than Arizona white eligible voters. 28% of Arizona’s Hispanic and Native American eligible voters did not complete high school compared with 8% of white Arizona eligible voters.
• Hispanic eligible voters (67%) are more likely to live in owner-occupied homes than Native American eligible voters (57%) in Arizona, but they are less likely to do so than white Arizona eligible voters (75%).