Non-Hispanic whites

Non-Hispanic whites, also called non-Latino whites, are people in the United States who are classified as white but are not of Hispanic or Latino origin. As of July 1, 2024, about 191 million people, or 56.3% of the country's population, fall into this group.

Even though non-Hispanic whites are still the largest single group in the country, their share of the population has dropped a lot over the past 80 years. In 1940, they made up almost 90% of the population. This change is due to many reasons, such as lower birth rates among white Americans, more people moving to the U.S. from places outside of Europe, and more people getting married who come from different racial or ethnic backgrounds.

The group includes people from many European backgrounds, such as German, Irish, English, Italian, and French ancestry. Many people in this group also have roots in other parts of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Over time, people from many different countries have come to live in the United States, adding to the diversity of the country.

History

The first Europeans to come to what is now the United States or Canada were Norse explorers around the year 1000. In the 1500s, Spain created settlements like San Agustín. Later, Pilgrims and other settlers arrived in the 1600s along the East Coast from places like England, looking for better lives and religious freedom. Over time, many people from Europe moved to the coastal areas.

By the time of the American Revolutionary War, there were about 2.5 million white people in the colonies, mostly from England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, the Netherlands, and France. After the war, large numbers of people from Ireland, Italy, and Poland came to the United States, which caused some worry among existing Americans who wanted to keep the country mainly Anglo Saxon Protestant. Throughout the 1800s, many more Europeans moved to America, and the white population grew.

In more recent times, the number of white people moving to the United States has been smaller compared to other groups. Birth rates among white people have also gone down. In 1980, non-Hispanic whites made up about 80 percent of the U.S. population, but that number has dropped a lot. Some experts think that by the year 2045, white people may no longer be the largest group in the country.

Culture

Main article: Culture of the United States

White Americans have created their own music, art, food, styles, and ways of working, mixing many traditional European influences. Today, most White Americans are Protestants, but there are also many Catholics and Jews among them. Over time, many Europeans changed their names to sound English, learned English as their main language, and married people from other white groups.

Cuisine

White Americans often eat more vegetables and have a higher amount of alcohol in their diets compared to other groups.

Sports

Baseball has been an important part of White American life since the 1860s, around the time of the Civil War. The sport helped bring different groups together. For a long time, baseball had rules that kept people of different races apart, but this changed by the late 20th century. The game also helped show a way of behaving that many White Americans valued.

Demographics

Non-Hispanic Whites are the largest racial and ethnic group in America, making up about 58.4% of the population. Over the past few decades, this percentage has been decreasing, from 89.5% in 1950 to 59.3% in 2022.

There are several reasons for this change. First, more people from outside of Europe are moving to the United States. Second, more people from different racial and ethnic groups are getting married. Third, the way people answer questions about their race and ethnicity has changed over time. Finally, minority populations tend to be younger than non-Hispanic Whites, which affects birth rates and population growth.

In 2021, non-Hispanic Whites made up just over half of all births in the country. This number went up a little from 2020, but it is still below the level needed to keep the population the same size without immigration.

White population in America from 1980 - 2020

Year	Total Population	Percentage of the American population	Actual Increase
1980	180,256,103	79.6%
1990	188,128,296	75.6%	4.36%
2000	194,552,774	69.1%	3.41%
2010	196,817,552	63.7%	1.16%
2020	191,697,647	57.8%	2.60%
2022(est.)	192,153,070	57.7%	0.23%
2024(est.)	191,382,624	56.3%	0.40%

Number of White births from 2016 to 2024

Year	Number of Births	General Fertility Rate	Birth Rate	Total Fertility Rate	Share of U.S. births
2016	2,056,332	58.8	10.5	1.72	52.1%
2017	1,992,461	57.2	10.2	1.67	51.7%
2018	1,956,413	56.3	10.0	1.64	51.6%
2019	1,915,912	55.3	9.8	1.61	51.1%
2020	1,843,432	53.0	9.4	1.55	51.0%
2021	1,887,656	54.4	9.7	1.60	51.5%
2022	1,840,739	53.1	9.5	1.57	50.2%
2023	1,787,051	51.7	9.2	1.51	49.7%
2024	1,780,377	51.7			49.1%

Population by State/Territory

White alone non-Latino population by state or territory (1990–2020)

State/Territory	Pop 1990	% pop 1990	Pop 2000	% pop 2000	Pop 2010	% pop 2010	Pop 2020	% pop 2020	% growth 2010-2020	% pop 1990-2020
Alabama	2,960,167	73.3%	3,125,819	70.3%	3,204,402	67.0%	3,171,351	63.1%	-1.0%	-11.0%
Alaska	406,722	73.9%	423,788	67.6%	455,320	64.1%	421,758	57.5%	-7.4%	-22.2%
Arizona	2,626,185	71.7%	3,274,258	63.8%	3,695,647	57.8%	3,816,547	53.4%	+3.3%	-25.5%
Arkansas	1,933,082	82.2%	2,100,135	78.6%	2,173,469	74.5%	2,063,550	68.5%	-5.0%	-16.7%
California	17,029,126	57.2%	15,816,790	46.7%	14,956,253	40.1%	13,714,587	34.7%	-8.3%	-39.3%
Colorado	2,658,945	80.7%	3,202,880	74.5%	3,520,793	70.0%	3,760,663	65.1%	+6.8%	-19.3%
Connecticut	2,754,184	83.8%	2,638,845	77.5%	2,546,262	71.2%	2,279,232	63.2%	-10.5%	-24.6%
Delaware	528,092	79.3%	567,973	72.5%	586,752	65.3%	579,851	58.6%	-1.2%	-26.1%
District of Columbia	166,131	27.4%	159,178	27.8%	209,464	34.8%	261,771	38.0%	+25.0%	+38.7%
Florida	9,475,326	73.2%	10,458,509	65.4%	10,884,722	57.9%	11,100,503	51.5%	+1.2%	-29.6%
Georgia	4,543,425	70.1%	5,128,661	62.6%	5,413,920	55.9%	5,362,156	50.1%	-1.0%	-28.5%
Hawaii	347,644	31.4%	277,091	22.9%	309,343	22.7%	314,365	21.6%	+1.6%	-31.2%
Idaho	928,661	92.2%	1,139,291	88.0%	1,316,243	84.0%	1,450,523	78.9%	+10.2%	-11.4%
Illinois	8,550,208	74.8%	8,424,140	67.8%	8,167,753	63.7%	7,472,751	58.3%	-8.5%	-22.1%
Indiana	4,965,242	89.6%	5,219,373	85.8%	5,286,453	81.5%	5,121,004	75.5%	-0.4%	-15.7%
Iowa	2,663,840	95.9%	2,710,344	92.6%	2,701,123	88.7%	2,638,201	82.7%	-6.8%	-10.9%
Kansas	2,190,524	88.4%	2,233,997	83.1%	2,230,539	78.2%	2,122,575	72.3%	-4.9%	-18.3%
Kentucky	3,378,022	91.7%	3,608,013	89.3%	3,745,655	86.3%	3,664,764	81.3%	-2.2%	-11.3%
Louisiana	2,776,022	65.8%	2,794,391	62.5%	2,734,884	60.3%	2,596,702	55.8%	-5.1%	-15.2%
Maine	1,203,357	98.0%	1,230,297	96.5%	1,254,297	94.4%	1,228,264	90.2%	-2.1%	-8.0%
Maryland	3,326,109	69.6%	3,286,547	62.1%	3,157,958	54.7%	2,913,782	47.2%	-7.7%	-32.2%
Massachusetts	5,280,292	87.8%	5,198,359	81.9%	4,984,800	76.1%	4,748,897	67.6%	-4.7%	-23.0%
Michigan	7,649,951	82.3%	7,806,691	78.6%	7,569,939	76.6%	7,295,651	72.4%	-3.6%	-12%
Minnesota	4,101,266	93.7%	4,337,143	88.2%	4,405,142	83.1%	4,353,880	76.3%	-1.2%	-15.3%
Mississippi	1,624,198	63.1%	1,727,908	60.7%	1,722,287	58.0%	1,639,077	55.4%	-4.8%	-12.2%
Missouri	4,448,465	86.9%	4,686,474	83.8%	4,850,748	81.0%	4,663,907	75.8%	-3.9%	-12.8%
Montana	733,878	91.8%	807,823	89.5%	868,628	87.8%	901,318	83.1%	+3.8%	-9.5%
Nebraska	1,460,095	92.5%	1,494,494	87.3%	1,499,753	82.1%	1,484,687	75.7%	-1.0%	-28.2%
Nevada	1,929,661	78.7%	1,303,001	65.2%	1,462,081	54.1%	1,425,952	45.9%	-3.5%	-41.7%
New Hampshire	1,079,484	97.3%	1,175,252	95.1%	1,215,050	92.3%	1,200,649	87.2%	-1.2%	-10.4%
New Jersey	5,718,966	74.0%	5,557,209	66.0%	5,214,878	59.3%	4,816,381	51.9%	-7.6%	-30%
New Mexico	764,164	50.4%	813,495	44.7%	833,810	40.5%	772,952	36.5%	-7.3%	-26.6%
New York	12,460,189	69.3%	11,760,981	62.0%	11,304,247	58.3%	10,598,907	52.5%	-6.4%	-24.2%
North Carolina	4,971,127	75.0%	5,647,155	70.2%	6,223,995	65.3%	6,312,148	60.5%	+1.4%	-19.3%
North Dakota	601,592	94.2%	589,149	91.7%	598,007	88.9%	636,160	81.7%	+6.4%	-13.1%
Ohio	9,444,622	87.1%	9,538,111	84.0%	9,359,263	81.1%	8,954,135	75.9%	-4.3%	-12.9%
Oklahoma	2,547,588	81.0%	2,556,368	74.1%	2,575,381	68.7%	2,407,188	60.8%	-6.5%	-25%
Oregon	2,579,732	90.8%	2,857,616	83.5%	3,005,848	78.5%	3,036,158	71.7%	+1.0%	-21.0%
Pennsylvania	10,422,058	87.7%	10,322,455	84.1%	10,094,652	79.5%	9,553,417	73.5%	-5.4%	-16.2%
Rhode Island	896,109	89.3%	858,433	81.9%	803,685	76.4%	754,050	68.7%	-6.2%	-23.1%
South Carolina	2,390,056	68.5%	2,652,291	66.1%	2,962,740	64.1%	3,178,552	62.1%	+7.3%	-9.3%
South Dakota	634,788	91.2%	664,585	88.0%	689,502	84.7%	705,583	79.6%	+2.3%	-12.7%
Tennessee	4,027,631	82.6%	4,505,930	79.2%	4,800,782	75.6%	4,900,246	70.9%	+2.1%	-14.2%
Texas	10,291,680	60.6%	10,933,313	52.4%	11,397,345	45.3%	11,584,597	39.8%	+1.6%	-34.5%
Utah	1,571,254	91.2%	1,904,265	85.3%	2,221,719	80.4%	2,465,355	75.4%	+11.0%	-17.3%
Vermont	552,184	98.1%	585,431	96.2%	590,223	94.3%	573,201	89.1%	-2.9%	-9.2%
Virginia	4,701,650	76.0%	4,965,637	70.2%	5,186,450	64.8%	5,058,363	58.6%	-2.5%	-29.9%
Washington	4,221,622	86.7%	4,652,490	78.9%	4,876,804	72.5%	4,918,820	63.8%	+0.9%	-26.4%
West Virginia	1,718,896	95.8%	1,709,966	94.6%	1,726,256	93.2%	1,598,834	89.1%	-7.4%	-7.0%
Wisconsin	4,464,677	91.3%	4,681,630	87.3%	4,738,411	83.3%	4,634,018	78.6%	-2.2%	-13.9%
Wyoming	412,711	91.0%	438,799	88.9%	483,874	85.9%	469,664	81.4%	-2.9%	-10.5%
American Samoa			682	1.2%	611	1.1%
Guam			10,666	6.9%	11,001	6.9%
Northern Mariana Islands			1,274	1.8%	916	1.7%
Puerto Rico			33,966	0.9%	26,946	0.7%	24,548	0.8%	-8.9%
U.S. Virgin Islands			8,580	7.9%	3,830	3.6%
United States of America	188,128,296	75.6%	194,552,774	69.1%	196,817,552	63.7%	191,697,647	57.8%	-2.6%	–23.5%

Historical population by state or territory

Non-Mexican white (1910–1930) and non-Latino white % of population (1940–2020) by US state

State/Territory	1910	1920	1930	1940	1950	1960	1970	1980	1990	2000	2010	2020
Alabama	57.5%	61.6%	64.3%	65.3%			73.3%	73.3%	73.3%	70.3%	67.0%	65.1%
Alaska				48.3%			77.2%	75.8%	73.9%	67.6%	64.1%	59.6%
Arizona	59.9%	60.7%	60.7%	65.1%	70.2%	74.9%	74.3%	74.5%	71.7%	63.8%	57.8%	53.8%
Arkansas	71.8%	73.0%	74.1%	75.2%			81.0%	82.2%	82.2%	78.6%	74.5%	71.7%
California	93.0%	91.7%	88.8%	89.5%	86.5%	82.9%	76.3%	66.6%	57.2%	46.7%	40.1%	35.9%
Colorado	97.6%	96.8%	92.8%	90.3%	88.9%	88.0%	84.6%	82.7%	80.7%	74.5%	70.0%	67.4%
Connecticut	98.6%	98.4%	98.1%	97.9%			91.4%	88.0%	83.8%	77.5%	71.2%	65.3%
Delaware	84.6%	86.4%	86.3%	86.4%			84.1%	81.3%	79.3%	72.5%	65.3%	61.1%
District of Columbia	71.3%	74.7%	72.7%	71.4%			26.5%	25.7%	27.4%	27.8%	34.8%	37.7%
Florida	58.9%	65.9%	70.5%	71.5%			77.9%	76.7%	73.2%	65.4%	57.9%	53.1%
Georgia	54.9%	58.3%	63.2%	65.2%			73.4%	71.6%	70.1%	62.6%	55.9%	51.6%
Hawaii				22.6%			38.0%	31.1%	31.4%	22.9%	22.7%	21.4%
Idaho	98.0%	98.3%	98.3%	98.4%			95.9%	93.9%	92.2%	88.0%	84.0%	81.4%
Illinois	98.0%	97.1%	95.2%	94.7%			83.5%	78.0%	74.8%	67.8%	63.7%	60.4%
Indiana	97.7%	97.2%	96.2%	96.3%			91.7%	90.2%	89.6%	85.8%	81.5%	78.0%
Iowa	99.3%	99.1%	99.1%	99.2%			98.0%	96.9%	95.9%	92.6%	88.7%	84.5%
Kansas	96.1%	95.7%	95.3%	95.6%			92.7%	90.5%	88.4%	83.1%	78.2%	75.1%
Kentucky	88.6%	90.2%	91.3%	92.5%			92.4%	91.7%	91.7%	89.3%	86.3%	83.9%
Louisiana	56.7%	60.8%	62.7%	63.7%			68.2%	67.6%	65.8%	62.5%	60.3%	58.1%
Maine	99.7%	99.7%	99.7%	99.7%			99.1%	98.3%	98.0%	96.5%	94.4%	92.7%
Maryland	82.0%	83.1%	83.0%	83.3%			80.4%	73.9%	69.6%	62.1%	54.7%	49.5%
Massachusetts	98.8%	98.7%	98.7%	98.6%			95.4%	92.3%	87.8%	81.9%	76.1%	70.5%
Michigan	99.1%	98.1%	96.0%	95.7%			87.1%	84.1%	82.3%	78.6%	76.6%	74.5%
Minnesota	99.2%	99.2%	99.0%	99.0%			97.7%	96.1%	93.7%	88.2%	83.1%	78.6%
Mississippi	43.7%	47.7%	49.6%	50.6%			62.6%	63.6%	63.1%	60.7%	58.0%	56.3%
Missouri	95.1%	94.6%	93.6%	93.4%			88.6%	87.7%	86.9%	83.8%	81.0%	79.0%
Montana	95.9%	97.3%	96.2%	96.2%			94.7%	93.4%	91.8%	89.5%	87.8%	85.7%
Nebraska	99.0%	98.5%	98.2%	98.2%			95.2%	94.0%	92.5%	87.3%	82.1%	77.8%
Nevada	89.7%	89.7%	89.4%	91.6%			86.7%	83.2%	78.7%	65.2%	54.1%	47.4%
New Hampshire	99.8%	99.8%	99.8%	99.9%			99.1%	98.4%	97.3%	95.1%	92.3%	89.4%
New Jersey	96.4%	96.2%	94.8%	94.3%			84.7%	79.1%	74.0%	66.0%	59.3%	54.1%
New Mexico	86.6%	83.8%	78.4%	50.9%	56.0%	63.8%	53.8%	52.6%	50.4%	44.7%	40.5%	36.4%
New York	98.4%	97.9%	96.5%	94.6%			80.1%	75.0%	69.3%	62.0%	58.3%	55.0%
North Carolina	68.0%	69.7%	70.5%	71.9%			76.5%	75.3%	75.0%	70.2%	65.3%	62.3%
North Dakota	98.8%	98.9%	98.6%	98.3%			96.9%	95.5%	94.2%	91.7%	88.9%	83.3%
Ohio	97.6%	96.7%	95.3%	95.0%			89.8%	88.2%	87.1%	84.0%	81.1%	78.0%
Oklahoma	87.0%	89.4%	88.6%	89.9%			88.1%	85.0%	81.0%	74.1%	68.7%	64.4%
Oregon	97.3%	98.1%	98.2%	98.6%			95.8%	93.3%	90.8%	83.5%	78.5%	71.7%
Pennsylvania	97.4%	96.7%	95.4%	95.1%			90.3%	89.1%	87.7%	84.1%	79.5%	73.5%
Rhode Island	98.1%	98.3%	98.5%	98.3%			96.1%	93.4%	89.3%	81.9%	76.4%	68.7%
South Carolina	44.8%	48.6%	54.3%	57.1%			69.0%	68.3%	68.5%	66.1%	64.1%	62.1%
South Dakota	96.8%	97.3%	96.6%	96.2%			94.6%	92.3%	91.2%	88.0%	84.7%	79.6%
Tennessee	78.3%	80.7%	81.7%	82.5%			83.7%	83.1%	82.6%	79.2%	75.6%	70.9%
Texas	76.4%	75.7%	73.5%	74.1%	73.8%	72.6%	69.6%	65.7%	60.6%	52.4%	45.3%	39.7%
Utah	98.1%	98.1%	97.7%	98.2%			93.6%	92.4%	91.2%	85.3%	80.4%	75.4%
Vermont	99.5%	99.8%	99.8%	99.7%			99.2%	98.5%	98.1%	96.2%	94.3%	92.2%
Virginia	67.4%	70.1%	73.1%	75.3%			80.1%	78.2%	76.0%	70.2%	64.8%	58.6%
Washington	97.1%	97.3%	97.3%	97.7%			93.6%	90.2%	86.7%	78.9%	72.5%	63.8%
West Virginia	94.7%	94.1%	93.3%	93.7%			95.7%	95.6%	95.8%	94.6%	93.2%	89.1%
Wisconsin	99.4%	99.4%	99.1%	99.2%			95.6%	93.6%	91.3%	87.3%	83.3%	78.6%
Wyoming	95.9%	96.8%	94.9%	95.9%			92.1%	92.0%	91.0%	88.9%	85.9%	81.4%
Puerto Rico										0.9%	0.7%	0.8%
United States of America	88.5%	89.0%	88.7%	88.4%	87.5%	85.4%	83.5%	79.6%	75.6%	69.1%	63.7%	57.8%