Table 1.
Comparison of characteristics among working-age U.S. residents by place of birth
| Characteristics | Native-born (147,771) | Mexico (155,263) | Canada (8,057) | Central/South America (94,601) |
Western Europe (18,607) |
Eastern Europe (36,739) |
East Asia (39,972) |
Southeast Asia (40,342) |
South Asia (30,861) |
Middle East (7,881) |
Africa (16,058) | Other regions (3,306) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mental disability (yes) | 4.2 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 3.9 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 1.2 |
| Physical disability (yes) | 7.4 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 3.6 | 1.2 | 3.9 | 2.0 | 3.1 | 2.1 | 2.4 |
| Work disability (yes) | 11.8 | 18.3 | 5.6 | 17.5 | 7.7 | 14.1 | 8.7 | 16.9 | 12.7 | 11.9 | 14.9 | 10.1 |
| Age (STD) | 39.8 (12.7) | 29.2 (9.2) | 35.7 (10.5) | 32.9 (10.7) | 34.8 (10.0) | 36.4 (11.8) | 34.8 (10.6) | 35.8 (12.0) | 33.5 (10.2) | 32.8 (10.2) | 33.5 (9.9) | 33.7 (10.4) |
| Sex | ||||||||||||
| Female | 50.9 | 43.3 | 51.4 | 49.8 | 47.1 | 53.5 | 55.4 | 56.8 | 46.4 | 44.2 | 46.6 | 48.4 |
| Male | 49.1 | 56.7 | 48.6 | 50.2 | 52.9 | 46.5 | 44.6 | 43.3 | 53.6 | 55.8 | 53.4 | 51.6 |
| Marital status | ||||||||||||
| Single/never married | 25.9 | 37.5 | 27.5 | 38.8 | 30.7 | 23.8 | 30.1 | 34.3 | 25.7 | 31.3 | 35.8 | 32.4 |
| Married, with spouse | 55.7 | 44.4 | 62.0 | 40.3 | 59.1 | 61.8 | 57.1 | 50.9 | 63.2 | 56.9 | 44.2 | 55.4 |
| Divorced/widowed | 18.4 | 18.1 | 10.6 | 20.8 | 10.3 | 14.4 | 12.9 | 14.9 | 11.1 | 11.8 | 20.1 | 12.2 |
| Education | ||||||||||||
| Less than high school | 14.8 | 71.1 | 7.7 | 43.6 | 9.9 | 12.6 | 14.0 | 27.1 | 13.6 | 20.4 | 14.9 | 21.7 |
| High school | 30.9 | 18.0 | 12.6 | 24.4 | 18.5 | 25.4 | 16.1 | 19.7 | 12.4 | 21.7 | 22.1 | 24.2 |
| Some college | 31.9 | 7.5 | 32.3 | 19.1 | 25.8 | 24.0 | 22.2 | 25.3 | 14.5 | 22.9 | 30.4 | 24.8 |
| Bachelor and above | 22.4 | 3.4 | 47.4 | 12.9 | 45.9 | 38.1 | 47.7 | 28.0 | 59.5 | 35.0 | 32.7 | 29.3 |
| Employment status | ||||||||||||
| Employed | 72.1 | 56.1 | 69.0 | 59.2 | 68.2 | 64.4 | 55.5 | 61.5 | 62.5 | 53.0 | 64.6 | 66.2 |
| Unemployed | 3.9 | 6.1 | 2.2 | 6.7 | 2.7 | 4.2 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 5.3 | 4.0 |
| Not in labor force | 24.0 | 37.8 | 28.9 | 34.1 | 29.2 | 31.5 | 41.3 | 34.5 | 34.2 | 43.4 | 30.0 | 29.7 |
| Poverty status index | ||||||||||||
| 0–99 | 12.9 | 29.9 | 12.7 | 23.5 | 15.2 | 19.3 | 25.2 | 16.4 | 15.8 | 25.9 | 23.4 | 18.8 |
| 100–199 | 29.5 | 55.9 | 20.0 | 49.4 | 23.3 | 34.1 | 32.9 | 39.0 | 30.0 | 35.4 | 38.6 | 33.7 |
| 300–499 | 27.2 | 30.9 | 24.5 | 18.3 | 22.2 | 23.8 | 19.7 | 26.8 | 21.8 | 19.5 | 21.6 | 21.6 |
| 500+ | 30.5 | 3.3 | 42.8 | 8.9 | 39.3 | 22.8 | 22.3 | 17.8 | 32.4 | 19.2 | 16.4 | 26.0 |
| U.S. residence | ||||||||||||
| 0–4 years | N/A | 45.0 | 53.8 | 41.5 | 53.7 | 44.9 | 48.6 | 30.9 | 51.9 | 47.3 | 54.6 | 54.6 |
| 5–10 years | N/A | 55.0 | 46.2 | 58.5 | 46.3 | 55.2 | 51.4 | 69.1 | 48.1 | 52.7 | 45.4 | 45.4 |
| English speaking | ||||||||||||
| Does not speak English/not well | NA | 67.1 | 1.2 | 44.3 | 7.2 | 26.3 | 34.7 | 28.3 | 12.9 | 18.4 | 10.5 | 9.0 |
| Only speak English | N/A | 5.6 | 76.8 | 15.6 | 43.8 | 6.4 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 5.9 | 16.5 | 48.9 |
| Speaks well/very well | N/A | 27.3 | 22.0 | 40.1 | 49.0 | 67.3 | 60.6 | 66.5 | 81.8 | 75.7 | 73.0 | 42.1 |
Note: Native-born Americans were weighted downward to 2% of its original sample, and immigrants were restricted to those who arrived since 1990; the number of cases in parentheses and sample characteristics are based on unweighted data. Data source: 5% sample of the U.S. 2000 census