--New York Latino Research and Resources Network

NYLARNET-Sponsored Project

The Socioeconomic Status of Latinos in New York State

Christine E. Bose

University at Albany, State University of New York

SUMMARY

This report presents comparative information on the education, employment and occupational status, income and poverty data for various Latino groups (Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Cubans, Mexicans, and Central/South Americans) residing in New York State. Its focus is to compare statewide data with results for the largest metropolitan areas of New York City, Long Island (Nassau County), Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo. The data source is the Integrated Public Use Micro-data Series (IPUMS) for the 2000 Census, and this abstract presents some of the data highlights.

DEMOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION

● Puerto Ricans are numerically the largest group in each of the areas, except in Nassau County (Long Island) where Central and South Americans predominate.

● Compared to their overall percentage in New York State, each Latino group is over-represented in New York City and underrepresented elsewhere, while non-Hispanic whites are under-represented in New York City and over-represented elsewhere.

EDUCATION—COLLEGE GRADUATES

● Metropolitan area has a large impact on the percentage of each Latino group that are college-educated, varying between 5 and 18 percentage points depending on location. For example, 4.7% of Dominicans in New York have Bachelor’s degrees (BAs), but fully 21.3% of Dominicans do so in Albany.

● Albany tends to attract college-educated Mexicans, Dominicans, and Central/South Americans—each group has more BA-holders in this city than statewide.

● Syracuse does not attract BA-holders: Except for Central-South Americans, most Latino groups here have considerably fewer BAs than they do statewide. Meanwhile, Buffalo and Rochester are mixed—two groups have more BAs than average and three groups have fewer BA’s than average in these cities.

● Nationally, Latino men are more likely than Latinas to hold BAs. But on average, in New York State, more Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Central/South American women than men hold BAs, and there is little gender difference among Cubans and Dominicans.

OCCUPATIONS—MANAGERIAL AND PROFESSIONAL JOBS

● Metropolitan area has a large impact on the percentage of each Latino group that holds managerial or professional jobs (MOP). However, perhaps due to occupational segregation, different cities are better for each group. For example, 6.7% of Mexicans in NYC, but 24.5% in Albany hold MOP jobs; 8.2% of Central-South Americans in Nassau County, but 27.5% in Rochester hold MOP jobs; yet 7.3% of Puerto Ricans in Rochester and 12.3% in Nassau County hold MOP jobs.

● On average, within each national origin group, Latino men are more likely to hold managerial-professional jobs than Latinas.

● On average, Latino groups have the highest unemployment rates in Albany (and in Buffalo for Puerto Ricans and Dominicans), while most groups have the lowest rates in Nassau County.

INCOME

● Puerto Ricans ($68,300), Mexicans ($57,000), Cubans ($88,300), and Dominicans ($55,100) all achieve their highest median household incomes in Nassau County (Long Island), while Central-South Americans do so in Albany ($66,600). New York State Latino household incomes generally are higher than the national Latino average of $33,455.

● The lowest median household incomes for Puerto Ricans ($22,000) and Cubans ($34,500) are found in Buffalo. For Mexicans ($35,200) and Dominicans ($10,390), the lowest median household incomes occur in Syracuse—this is also true for non-Hispanic whites, but their income is $50,000. For Central-South Americans, the lowest median household income ($42,200) is in New York City.

● On average, men have higher individual incomes than women. However, in Albany, Puerto Rican women ($19,592 vs. $12,140) and Dominican women ($17,650 vs. $14,094) have higher average incomes than men.

● Men and women do not always find their highest earnings in the same city. For example, Mexican women’s highest individual incomes are found in Albany, but Mexican men earn the most in Buffalo and Rochester. This is an outcome of gendered occupational segregation.

POVERTY

● Nationally, the Hispanic poverty rate is 21.2%. In our state, the highest rates of Latino poverty are found in western New York. In Syracuse, 47.8% of Puerto Ricans, 33.1% of Mexicans, and 88.2% of Dominicans live below the poverty level. And in 31.7% of Central-South Americans in Rochester and 45.7% of Cubans in Buffalo live below the poverty level.

● Some, although not all, of Latino/a poverty can be attributed to living in a female-headed household. Statewide, Puerto Ricans have the highest rates (55.1%) and Mexicans have the lowest rates (26.9%) of such households.

● These household rates vary widely for the national origin groups in a single city—for example in Albany, Central-South Americans have the lowest rate of 21%, while Puerto Ricans have the highest rate of 50.8% (almost a 30% range).

● The rates of woman-headed households also vary depending upon the city. For both Puerto Ricans and Mexicans, the lowest rates of woman-headed households are found in Nassau County (35.3% and 23.7%, respectively)—and the highest rates are in Syracuse (56.8% and 37.4%, respectively). Surprisingly, the lowest rates of woman-headed households among Cubans (17.3%) and Dominicans (28.4%) are also found in Syracuse.