Census report on Hispanics finds Dominicans poorest, Colombians richest

A recent Census Bureau report finds Dominican Americans were the poorest Hispanics in the U.S. in 2020, while those of Colombian descent were the richest.

For the first time, the agency’s 2021 Survey of Income and Program Participation provided a detailed breakdown of different Latino groups to coincide with National Hispanic Heritage Month. The federal observance honoring the nation’s biggest minority group lasts from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

Released Wednesday, the Census report compared Hispanic Americans of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Salvadoran, Dominican and Colombian origins.

According to the report, Dominican Americans lived in households with a median net worth of $9,430 in 2020, compared with $141,200 for Colombians. The figure was $30,600 for Salvadoran Americans, the second-poorest group, and $92,700 for Cubans, the second-richest.

Overall, the median net worth for Hispanic households was $52,190 and was about the same for both native and foreign-born Mexicans. Nationwide, non-Hispanic households had a median net worth of $195,600.

In a summary of the findings, Census officials Zachary Scherer and Yerís Mayol-García noted that Dominican Americans “had the highest proportion who reported being Black or multiracial, which may shape their outcomes.”

“Many Dominican people also did not speak English very well and the accent with which they speak Spanish is viewed as lower status by other Hispanic groups, which may result in discrimination and limited job opportunities,” they wrote.

Further up the economic ladder, Mr. Scherer and Ms. Mayol-García noted that Cubans are “more likely to have at least a bachelor’s degree and to own a home than the Hispanic population as a whole.”

They added that Colombians settling in the U.S. tend to be “better off socioeconomically than many other Hispanic groups.”

Analyzing income and household data, their report found that 50.5% of Dominican Americans and 49.2% of Salvadoran Americans struggled to find food, pay bills or secure decent housing in 2020. Those of Colombian origin (23.3%) and Cuban origin (29.4%) were least likely to struggle with material hardship in any of these areas.

The report found that 33% of Mexican Americans, the largest Hispanic group, struggled in these areas. Nationally, 34.8% of Hispanics and 24.3% of non-Hispanic households experienced material hardship in 2020.

Colombians (7.3%) and Cubans (8.3%) were the only Hispanic groups less likely than non-Hispanic Americans (7.5%) to go hungry. At 28.1%, Salvadorans were the most likely to lack food or the money to buy it.

The report also found that 28.7% of Dominicans struggled to secure housing without pests, holes in the floor, cracks in the walls and bad plumbing. Only 11.5% of Colombian households experienced this hardship.

While 26.3% of Dominicans struggled to pay their rent, utilities or bills, only 9.9% of Colombian households had the same problem.