(Source: U.S. Census Bureau)

U.S. Latino population:

In 2000: 35,305,818
July 1, 2005 Estimate: 42, 687,224

Latino home ownership

Latinos significantly increased the ranks of U.S. homeowners, with 49.7% percent of Latinos owning homes in the first quarter, up from 47.3 % a year earlier. This translates into 5.8 million Hispanic homeowners in the United States.

Latinos in California

California's Latino population grew 16% between the year 2000 and 2005, making California home to nearly 30% of all Latinos in the U.S.

Latinos in large-concentration states

Six other states with Latino populations of 1 million or more also had the largest numeric growth behind California: Texas (up 20.4%), Florida (29.3%), New York (8.2%), Illinois (19.3%), Arizona (30.7%), and New Jersey (18.8%).

Latinos in other states

Every state had at least a double-digit increase in population except for New Mexico (up 9.4 %), Wyoming (up 8.2%), and New York (up 8.2%).

The Quest to Reach Latinos: Fact & Fiction

Fiction: Latinos are a single demographic group.
Fact: Latinos come from over two dozen countries, with substantial cultural, educational, and socio-economic differences.

Fiction: All Latinos in the US speak Spanish.
Fact: 55% of Latinos are native-born, many of them for generations. Many of them don't speak Spanish and, even if they do, they prefer to be spoken to in English.

Fiction: It's enough to translate an English language campaign to make it work with Spanish-speaking Latinos.
Fact: Simply translating ad copy into Spanish is not enough. Thing tend to get lost in translation, and chances are that even an appropriately translated campaign won't have the same effect on the destination audience.