This data brief, produced by the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute research team, provides detailed information on Arizona’s Latino population using the 2015-19 American Community Survey data.

1. Latinos are the second-largest racial and ethnic group in Arizona at 31% of the population (Figure 1), compared to 18% of the national share of Latinos. 

Figure 1: Arizona Population by Race and Ethnicity, 2019

Source: LPPI analysis of 2015-2019 5-Year American Community Survey public use microdata.

2. Latinos in Arizona are young. With a median age of 27, the Latino population is significantly younger than Arizonans overall (37). Around 20% of Latinos in Arizona are children ages 0 to 10—compared with less than 15% of Arizona’s population while less than 10% of Latinos are aged 61 and older (vs over 20% of Arizona overall). 

3. Latinos in Arizona are predominately Mexican (89%), reflecting the state’s historic connections with Mexico. Mexicans are followed by Puerto Ricans (2%), South Americans (1%), Guatemalans (1%), and Salvadorans and Cubans (less than 1% each). 

4. Arizona’s Latinos have lower levels of education compared to the Arizona average and on par with Latinos nationally. Thirty percent of Latinos in AZ did not complete high school, a rate similar to Latinos nationally (31%), but much higher than the state overall (13%). Among Latino sub-groups, more than half (54%) of Guatemalans didn’t finish high school, versus only 11% of Puerto Ricans and 8% of South Americans. 

5. Latinas in Arizona have slightly higher educational attainment than Latino men (Figure 2). Twenty-one percent of Latinas completed an associate degree or higher, compared to 19% of Latino men.

Figure 2: Population with an Associate Degree or Higher by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender, 2019

Source: LPPI analysis of 2015-2019 5-Year American Community Survey public use microdata.

6. Latinos have the second-lowest homeownership rates among major racial groups (Figure 3): only Black Arizonans are less likely to own their home. Despite this gap, Latinos in Arizona are more likely to own a home relative to U.S. Latinos (53% vs 47%) due to the relative affordability of housing in Arizona compared to other states with high concentrations of Latinos. 

Figure 3: Homeownership Rates by Race and Ethnicity, 2019

Source: LPPI analysis of 2015-2019 5-Year American Community Survey public use microdata.

7. Latinos in Arizona have the second-lowest home values in Arizona among major racial groups, only higher than Native Americans. In 2019, Latino median home values were $160,000, $60,000 lower than the state median. Among Latino origin groups, Puerto Ricans and South Americans possess homes with the highest median values ($240,000 and $245,000 respectively). 

8. Half of Latinos in Arizona are housing cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their incomes on housing costs, a rate slightly higher than the Arizona average (48%) but lower than Latinos nationally (55%). 

9. Latinos, especially Latino children are the second most likely to live in overcrowded households, after Native Americans. Eleven percent of all Latinos and 28% of Latino children in Arizona live in overcrowded homes. 

10. Latino men in Arizona have higher labor force participation rates than men from other racial groups (Figure 4). 

Figure 4: Labor Force Participation Rates for Men by Race and Ethnicity, 2019

Source: LPPI analysis of 2015-2019 5-Year American Community Survey public use microdata.

11. Latina women have the second-highest labor force participation rate among women (Figure 5). Only Black women are more likely to participate in the workforce (66%). 

Figure 5: Labor Force Participation Rates for Women by Race and Ethnicity, 2019

Source: LPPI analysis of 2015-2019 5-Year American Community Survey public use microdata.

12. Despite their high workforce participation rates, almost half of Latinos in Arizona live in poverty or low-income conditions. 20% of Latino households live under the federal poverty line, and another 27% are considered low-income. By comparison, only 14% of the state population lives in poverty, and 18% is low-income. Arizona Latinos are slightly less likely to live below the poverty line than U.S. Latinos (20% vs 22%), but are more likely to live in low-income conditions (27% vs 26%). 

13. Latinos have the third-lowest median household income of any racial group in Arizona ($48,900) — after AAPI and white households — almost $10,000 below the state median household income ($58,500) and slightly lower than the median household income of Latinos nationally ($51,800).

14. Latinos are more likely to be uninsured. Eighteen percent of Latinos are uninsured, compared to just 11% of Arizonans overall. Among Latino origin groups, a third of Guatemalans are uninsured, the most of any group. Noncitizen Latinos are the most vulnerable with close to half (46%) without health insurance. Only 10% of Latino children are uninsured, slightly above the state overall (8%) and the national level for Latino children (8%). 

15. A third of Latinos and over half of Latino children in Arizona are covered by Medicaid. Both Latino adults and children are more likely to be covered by Medicaid compared to the state average (22% for all Arizonans and 39% for children). 

This work was made possible by the generous support of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Casey Family Programs. Featured photo by Dulcey Lima on Unsplash.