California’s Hispanic population is the largest of any state in the nation. More than 13 million Hispanics reside in California, 30% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are over 5 million eligible Hispanic voters in California, 28% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters.¹ This fact sheet provides key demographic information on Latino eligible voters.² It also contains data on other major groups of eligible voters in California, with comparative data for the U.S. All data are from the Census Bureau’s 2006 American Community Survey.³

Hispanics in California’s Eligible Voter Population

• California’s population is 36% Hispanic, the second-highest Hispanic population share nationally behind New Mexico with 45%.
• 23% of eligible voters in California are Latinos, the third-largest Hispanic eligible voter population share nationally behind New Mexico with 38% and Texas with 25%.
• 38% of Latinos in California are eligible to vote, ranking California 26th nationwide in the share of the Hispanic population that is eligible to vote.

  

Characteristics of Eligible Voters

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  34% of Hispanic eligible voters in California are ages 18 to 29. By contrast, only 23% of all California eligible voters, 31% of Latino eligible voters nationwide, and 22% of all U.S. eligible voters are in that age range.

• 30% of Hispanic eligible voters in California are naturalized U.S. citizens compared with 19% of all California eligible voters. Nationwide, 93% of all eligible voters are citizens by birth, as are 74% of all Hispanic voters compared with 70% of California Hispanic eligible voters.
• 28% of Latino eligible voters in California have not completed high school, similar to the share of all Latino eligible voters nationwide. Only 13% of all California eligible voters and 14% of all eligible voters nationwide have not completed high school.
• 61% of Hispanic eligible voters in California live in owner-occupied homes compared with 64% of all California eligible voters. A greater share of all eligible voters nationwide (71%) live in owner-occupied homes.

Characteristics of Eligible Voters in California, by Race and Ethnicity

• Latino eligible voters outnumber black eligible voters in California by more than 3 to 1.
• Twice as many Hispanics as Asians are eligible to vote in California—5 million versus 2.5 million.
• Latino eligible voters are younger than white, black and Asian eligible voters in California. 34% of Latinos are ages 18 to 29 compared with 18% of white, 25% of black and 21% of Asian eligible voters.
• Asian eligible voters in California are more than twice as likely as Latino eligible voters to be naturalized citizens—70% versus 30%.
• California Latino eligible voters (61%) are less likely to live in owner-occupied homes than white (68%) and Asian (71%) eligible voters in California.