What Is The Population Makeup Of Usa

June four, 2001

Public Overestimates U.South. Black and Hispanic Populations

Perceptions of the percentage of Hispanics in America have grown significantly since 1990, while perceptions of the pct of blacks take remained steady

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- The latest U.S. Census findings on the increasing diversity of America have received considerable attending this twelvemonth. Americans seem to realize that the United States is a diverse nation, simply recent polling suggests the public thinks the nation is more diverse than it actually is. Americans more often than not overestimate, to a significant degree, the per centum of the U.S. population that is either black or Hispanic. According to the U.South. Census Bureau, 12.3% of the U.S. population is blackness, and 12.five% is Hispanic. Gallup Poll results from March 26-28, still, show that slightly less than i in 10 Americans tin accurately identify that the population of either blacks or Hispanics in this land falls betwixt 10% and 14%. The typical American estimates the percentages of blacks and Hispanics in this country to be more than twice as high every bit they actually are.

On average, Americans say that 33% of the U.South. population is black. In fact, a majority of Americans (56%) estimate that the percentage of blacks in this country stands at 30% or higher. As many as 17% of Americans say the percentage of blacks is 50% or greater. Only 7% accurately state that the per centum of blacks falls between 10% and 14% of the entire population.

Americans' impressions about the per centum of Hispanics in this state are somewhat more than accurate than their impressions virtually the per centum of blacks. Americans, on average, say that 29% of the U.S. population is Hispanic, which is slightly more than twice the actual percentage of Hispanics. Near two in five Americans say Hispanics constitute 30% or more of the population. Just x% accurately estimate that between 10% and fourteen% of the population is Hispanic.

Estimates of the Percentage of Hispanics Show Pregnant Change From 1990

There has been petty alter over the terminal decade in Americans' tendency to estimate the U.South. blackness population erroneously. According to the U.S. Census, in 1990, 12.1% of Americans were black. In a March 1990 Gallup poll -- taken while the 1990 census was being conducted -- the average American guessed that 32% of Americans were black. 50-one percent estimated that blacks fabricated up thirty% or more of the U.S. population, and merely eight% correctly estimated that the percentage of blacks was between 10% and xiv%. A 1997 Gallup poll produced similar results.

On the other mitt, in that location has been some change in Americans' estimates of the Hispanic population in this country during the final x years. The U.S. Census Bureau shows that the percentage of Hispanics rose from 9% in 1990 to 12.5% in 2000. Gallup polling has shown a concomitant increase in Americans' estimates of the Hispanic population. The 1990 Gallup poll showed the average American guessing that 21% of Americans were Hispanic, compared to the 29% estimate of the average American today. In 1990, 41% of Americans guessed that Hispanics made up 20% or more of the population. Today, 65% recollect Hispanics correspond at least 20% of the population, including xiv% who think Hispanics constitute l% or more of the population.

Lower-Income and Nonwhite Americans Nigh Likely to Overestimate U.S. Populations of Blacks and Hispanics

Perhaps because lower-income and nonwhite Americans are more likely to come up into contact with blacks and Hispanics, these subgroups are well-nigh likely to overestimate the U.S. black and Hispanic populations. The average nonwhite estimates that 40% of the U.S. population is black and 35% of the population is Hispanic. Americans earning less than $20,000 estimate the blackness pct of the U.Due south. population to be 42%, and the Hispanic percentage to contain 37%. At the other stop of the spectrum, adults earning at least $75,000 and adults with a college degree or postgraduate education are least probable to overestimate these populations.

Survey Methods

The results reported here are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,024 adults, xviii years and older, conducted March 26-28, 2001. For results based on this sample, ane can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random furnishings is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In add-on to sampling mistake, question diction and practical difficulties in conducting surveys tin can innovate error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Adjacent 2 QUESTIONS ROTATED

But your best estimate, what percent of the Usa population today would you say is black? [Open-ended and lawmaking actual number]

	2001 Mar 26-28	1997 Jan 4-February 28	1990 Mar 15-18
	%	%	%

Less than ten%	3	ii	ii
Between 10% and 14%	seven	eight	8
Between fifteen% and xix%	8	8	vii
Between 20% and 29%	xix	15	21
Betwixt 30% and 39%	23	21	22
Between 40% and 49%	16	16	16
l% or more	17	17	13

No opinion	seven	xiii	11

Mean	33	--	32
Median	30	--	--

But your best guess, what percent of the Usa population today would you say is Hispanic? [Open-ended and code bodily number]

	2001 Mar 26-28	1990 Mar 15-eighteen
	%	%

Less than five%	2	3
Between 5% and ix%	3	12
Betwixt x% and xix%	22	28
Between 20% and 29%	25	xx
Between 30% and 49%	26	16
50% or more than	14	5

No stance	8	16

Hateful	29	21
Median	25	--