By Sara Kidd, GISP
Senior Regional Planner
In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, this month’s map shows the distribution of the region’s population with Hispanic or Latino origins by census tract. National Hispanic Heritage Month occurs annually from September 15 through October 15 to celebrate the culture and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans. Hispanic or Latino origins are defined as populations with ancestors from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean (Spanish-speaking), or Central and South America. Approximately 19.5% of the U.S. population has Hispanic or Latino origins; in Hampton Roads, it is approximately 7.5% of the total population.
There are four localities which have Hispanic or Latino origins population above 7.5 percent. Newport News has the highest (9.9%) followed by Virginia Beach (8.8%), Norfolk (8.7%), and Williamsburg (7.7%).
As the map shows, many census tracts on the Peninsula have a higher percentage of this population – some are above 30 percent. There are also higher percentage tracts near some of the military installations.
The population estimates also include figures about the countries or regions of origin. In Hampton Roads, the greatest percentage of people with Hispanic or Latinos origins have Mexican roots (32.5%) with Puerto Rico (27%) and Central America (14.1%) in the top three. Click on the map to view the breakdown of the population by specific groups in each census tract.
* Central America: El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica
**South America: Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay
Data source: US Census Bureau, 2018-2022 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates.