Southwestern United States - Ethnicity

Ethnicity

The Southwest is ethnically varied, with significant Anglo American and Hispanic American populations in addition to more regional African American, Asian American, and Native American populations.

Hispanic Americans (mostly Mexican Americans with large populations of Spanish Americans) can be found in large numbers in every major city in the southwest, such as Phoenix (43%), Tucson (41%), Las Vegas (32%), Reno (22%), Denver (32%), Colorado Springs (16%), El Paso (80%), Albuquerque (47%), Provo (15.2%) and Salt Lake City (22%). San Antonio (61%), Austin (35%), Fort Worth (34%), Dallas (43%), and Houston (44%) have large Latino populations as well, but are not always considered part of the Southwest, and are often grouped more with the American South.

Very large Hispanic American populations can also be found in the smaller cities such as, Flagstaff (18%), Yuma (55%), Mesa (27%), Las Cruces (56%), Santa Fe (48%), Farmington (22%), Roswell (51%), Alamogordo (32%), Pueblo (48%), Greeley (35%), Longmont (25%), Brighton (41%), Carson City (20%), Amarillo (27%), Lubbock (31%), Midland (37%), and Odessa (47%). Many small towns throughout the southwestern states also have significantly large Latino populations.

The largest African American populations in the southwest can be found in Denver (10%), Colorado Springs (7%), Las Vegas (10%), and Phoenix (5%). The Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston areas both have very large African American populations, although those parts of Texas are not usually considered to be part of the southwestern United States.

The largest Asian American populations in the southwest can be found in Nevada and Utah, with some other significant Asian populations in Denver and Phoenix. The most significant Native American populations can be found in New Mexico and Arizona.