Hispanics in the 2008 Election: Virginia

Virginia’s Hispanic population is the 16th largest in the nation. More than 466,000 Hispanics reside in Virginia, 1% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are 149,000 eligible Hispanic voters in Virginia, less than 1% 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 Virginia, with comparative data for the U.S. All data are from the Census Bureau’s 2006 American Community Survey.³

Hispanics in Virginia’s Eligible Voter Population

• Virginia’s population is 6% Hispanic, the 27th highest Hispanic population share nationally. New Mexico ranks first with 45%.
• Almost 3% of eligible voters in Virginia are Latinos, the 28th largest Hispanic eligible voter population share nationally. New Mexico ranks first with 38%.
• Almost one-third of Latinos in Virginia are eligible to vote, ranking 40th nationwide in the share of the Hispanic population that is eligible to vote.

  

Characteristics of Eligible Voters

• 

  Virginia’s Hispanic eligible voters are younger than all eligible voters in Virginia—31% of Hispanic eligible voters in Virginia are ages 18 to 29 versus 21% of all Virginia eligible voters.

• Hispanic eligible voters in Virginia are more likely to have attended college or earned at least a bachelor’s degree than all Virginia eligible voters—62% of Hispanics versus 58% of all eligible voters in Virginia. They also have a higher level of education than all Hispanic eligible voters nationwide, only 41% of whom have attended college or earned a bachelor’s degree or more.
• Latino eligible voters in Virginia are less likely to live in an owner-occupied home than all eligible voters in Virginia—64% versus 72%.
• Hispanic eligible voters are more likely to have a household income of $75,000 or more than are all eligible voters in Virginia—48% versus 43%. In contrast, only 31% of all Hispanic eligible voters nationwide have household incomes in that range.

Characteristics of Eligible Voters in Virginia, by Race and Ethnicity

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  Black eligible voters outnumber Latino eligible voters in Virginia by a margin of nearly 7 to 1—1.1 million blacks compared with 149,000 Latino eligible voters. Asian eligible voters outnumber Latinos—149,000 Latinos versus 180,000 Asians.

• Hispanic eligible voters are younger than white, black or Asian eligible voters in Virginia—31% of Hispanic eligible voters are ages 18 to 29 compared with 19% of white, 25% of black and 21% of Asian eligible voters.
• Latino eligible voters in Virginia are more likely to be citizens by birth (62%) than are Asian eligible voters (22%).
• Similar proportions of Hispanic eligible voters and white eligible voters in Virginia have household incomes of $75,000 or more—48% of Hispanics versus 47% of whites.