Hispanics in the 2008 Election: Colorado

Colorado’s Hispanic population is eighth-largest in the nation. More than 927,000 Hispanics reside in Colorado, 2% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are over 404,000 eligible Hispanic voters in Colorado, 2% 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 Colorado, with comparative data for the U.S. All data are from the Census Bureau’s 2006 American Community Survey.³

Hispanics in Colorado’s Eligible Voter Population

• Colorado’s population is 20% Hispanic, the seventh-highest Hispanic population share nationally. New Mexico ranks first with 45%.
• 12% of eligible voters in Colorado are Latinos, the sixth-largest Hispanic eligible voter population share nationally. New Mexico ranks first with 38%, followed by Texas with 25% and California with 23%.
• 44% of Latinos in Colorado are eligible to vote, ranking Colorado 21st nationwide in the share of the Hispanic population that is eligible to vote.

  

Characteristics of Eligible Voters

• 

  30% of Hispanic eligible voters in Colorado are ages 18 to 29, similar to the share for all Latino eligible voters nationwide (31%). A greater share of Coloradan Hispanic eligible voters are in that age range than are all Colorado (22%) and all U.S. (22%) eligible voters.

• A greater share of Hispanic eligible voters in Colorado (11%) are naturalized U.S. citizens compared with all Colorado eligible voters (4%) and all eligible voters in the U.S. (7%). By contrast, 89% of Coloradan Hispanic eligible voters are citizens by birth compared with just 74% of all Hispanic eligible voters nationwide.
• 26% of Latino eligible voters in Colorado have not completed high school, similar to the share of all Latino eligible voters nationwide (27%). However 10% of all Coloradan eligible voters and 14% of all eligible voters nationwide have not completed high school.
• 61% of Latino eligible voters in Colorado live in owner-occupied homes, a similar share as for all Latino eligible voters in the U.S. By contrast, a lesser share of Latino eligible voters in Colorado live in owner-occupied homes than do all eligible voters nationwide (71%).

Characteristics of Eligible Voters in Colorado, by Race and Ethnicity

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  White eligible voters outnumber Hispanic eligible voters in Colorado by more than 6 to 1.

• Latino eligible voters are younger than white eligible voters in Colorado. Among Latino eligible voters, 30% are ages 18 to 29 compared with 21% of white eligible voters.
• Hispanic eligible voters are less likely than white eligible voters in Colorado to live in owner-occupied homes—61% versus 75%.