T.

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo celebrates the legendary Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, in which a Mexican force of 4,500 men faced 6,000 well-trained French soldiers. The battle lasted four hours and ended in a victory for the Mexican army under Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza. Along with Mexican Independence Day on Sept.16, Cinco de Mayo has become a time to celebrate Mexican heritage and culture.

28.3 million
Number of U.S. residents of Mexican origin in 2006. These residents constituted 9 percent of the nation’s total population and 64 percent of the Hispanic population.

17.86 million
Number of people of Mexican origin who lived either in California (10.84
million) or Texas (7.02 million). People of Mexican origin made up more than one-quarter of the residents of these two states. (The unrounded total for California and Texas combined is 17,866,191.)

25.7
Median age of people in the United States of Mexican descent. This compares with 36.4 years for the population as a whole.

630,000
Number of Mexican-Americans who are U.S. military veterans.

1.2 million
Number of people of Mexican descent 25 and older with a bachelor's degree or higher. This includes about 350,000 who have a graduate degree.

37%
Among households where a householder was of Mexican origin, the percentage of married-couple families with own children younger than 18. For all households, the corresponding percentage was 22 percent.

4.1
Average size for families with a householder of Mexican origin. This compares to 3.2 people in all families.

14%
Percentage of employed civilians 16 and older of Mexican heritage who worked in managerial, professional or related occupations. In addition, 23 percent worked in service occupations; 20 percent in sales and office occupations; 19 percent in construction, extraction, maintenance and repair occupations; and 20 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations.

$37,661
Median household income in 2006 for households with a householder of Mexican origin.

23%
Poverty rate in 2006 for people of Mexican heritage.

69%
Percentage of civilians 16 and older of Mexican origin in the labor force.
The percentage was 65 percent for the population as a whole.
There were 13 million people of Mexican heritage in the labor force, comprising 9 percent of the total.

51%
Percentage of householders of Mexican origin who owned the home in which they lived.

Source for the preceding statements: 2006 American Community Survey < http://factfinder.census.gov>

Trade With Mexico
$347.3 billion
The value of goods traded between the United States and Mexico in 2007.
Mexico was our nation's third-leading trading partner, after Canada and China.
Source: Foreign Trade Statistics <http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/>

Businesses
701,078
Number of firms owned by people of Mexican origin in 2002. They comprised almost 45 percent of all Hispanic-owned firms. Among these Mexican-owned firms, 275,896 were in California and 235,735 in Texas. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif., combined statistical area had 174,292.

$96.7 billion
Sales and receipts for firms owned by people of Mexican origin in 2002.

116,290
Number of firms owned by people of Mexican origin in the construction sector in 2002, which led all sectors.

Source for statements in this section: Hispanic-Owned Firms: 2002 < http://www.census.gov/prod/ec02/sb0200cshisp.pdf>

Mexican Food
$100.4 million
Product shipment value of tamales and other Mexican food specialties (not frozen or canned) produced in the United States in 2002.
Source: 2002 Economic Census <
http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/guide/INDRPT31.HTM>

337
Number of U.S. tortilla manufacturing establishments in 2005. The establishments that produce this unleavened flat bread employed nearly 14,000 people. Tortillas, the principal food of the Aztecs, are known as the “bread of Mexico.” About one in three of these establishments was in Texas.
Source: County Business Patterns: 2005 < http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/county_business_patterns/010192.html
>

Following is a list of observances typically covered by the Census Bureau’s Facts for Features series:

African-American History Month (February) Labor Day (Sept. 1)
Super Bowl XLII (Feb. 3) Grandparents Day (Sept. 7)
Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) Hispanic Heritage Month
(Sept. 15-Oct. 15)
Women’s History Month (March) Unmarried and Single Americans Week
(Sept. 21-27)
Irish-American Heritage Month (March)/ Halloween (Oct. 31)
St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) American Indian/Alaska Native
Heritage Month
Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month (May) (November)
Older Americans Month (May) Veterans Day (Nov. 11)
Cinco de Mayo (May 5) Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 27)
Mother’s Day (May 11)
The Holiday Season (December)
Hurricane Season Begins (June 1)
Father’s Day (June 15)
The Fourth of July (July 4)
Anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act (July 26) Back to School (August)

Editor's note: The preceding data were collected from a variety of sources and may be subject to sampling variability and other sources of error.
Facts for Features are customarily released about two months before an observance in order to accommodate magazine production timelines. Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureau’s Public Information
Office: telephone: 301-763-3030; fax: 301-763-3762; or e-mail:
<pio@census.gov>.