For The First Time in History One in Five Americans Is Latino, and We’re Powering the Fastest-Growing Economy in the U.S.
For the first time in U.S. history, one out of every five people is Latino. That’s more than 68 million people, an increase of two million from 2023, according to new data from the Latino GDP Project, a joint initiative by UCLA and California Lutheran University.
But population growth is just part of the story. Researchers found that the U.S. Latino labor force grew 5.5% in 2024 — the single strongest year on record — reaching 35.1 million workers. The Latino labor participation rate also hit an all-time high of 69%, a record-breaking six percentage points higher than the non-Latino rate.
“These new data indicate that the U.S. Latino labor force is shattering records for economic vibrancy,” said Dr. David Hayes-Bautista, director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine.
The Latino population is growing faster than anyone expected
When UCLA researchers first projected Latino growth back in 1988, they estimated the population might reach 58.8 million by now. The reality surpassed every forecast. As of July 2024, we make up 20% of the U.S. population, a demographic shift that’s redefining what “mainstream America” looks like.
According to the study, the Latino population grew 2.9% between 2023 and 2024, 5.8 times faster than the non-Latino population. This difference, known as the Latino population growth premium, reached an all-time high of 2.4 percentage points in 2024.
Researchers also found that Latinos kept the nation’s overall population growth positive during the pandemic. From 2020 to 2024, the Latino population grew by a natural increase of 3.2 million people, even as the non-Latino population declined by 1.3 million.
“Latinos powered through the extraordinary challenges of the pandemic and were responsible for keeping overall U.S. natural population change positive,” the report explains.
Latinos are driving the U.S. labor force like never before
In labor, too, we are breaking records. Between 2010 and 2024, the Latino share of the U.S. labor force grew 7.2 times faster than that of non-Latinos.
The 2024 jump — 5.5% in a single year — represents an explosion compared to 2023’s 3.8% increase, which was already the strongest ever recorded.
“Time and time again, we find that hard work, self-sufficiency, optimism and perseverance are the characteristics that underly the strength and resilience of U.S. Latinos,” said Matthew Fienup, executive director of Cal Lutheran’s Center for Economic Research & Forecasting.
That ethos shows in the data. We now hold a labor participation premium of 6.2 percentage points, a historic difference that illustrates how deeply Latino workers sustain the U.S. economy.
Latino GDP outpaces the world’s biggest economies
These record-breaking figures follow April’s U.S. Latino GDP Report, which found that Latino GDP hit $4.1 trillion, surpassing India’s entire economy and making it the fifth largest GDP in the world.
According to the Latino GDP Project, the U.S. Latino economy has grown faster than China’s since 2019. Researchers attribute that acceleration to both population growth and a consistent rise in labor participation, particularly among younger Latinos entering the workforce.
“The vitality of the overall U.S. economy depends on the intensity of activity of U.S. Latinos,” the report states. “We see a bright future for the United States, because of Latinos.”
The story these numbers tell
Taken together, the data from UCLA and Cal Lutheran tell a story of persistence, cultural strength, and intergenerational impact. From the pandemic years to today’s record-setting workforce, Latinos have done more than grow in number. They’ve redefined what economic power looks like in America.
