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New Marriages, New Families: U.S. Racial and Hispanic Intermarriage
Population Bulletin, Jun 2005 by Lee, Sharon M, Edmonston, Barry
The West-with its large population centers and high racial diversity-had twice the proportion of interracial couples as other major regions in 2000 (although residence reported in the 2000 Census may not be where these couples met and got married). About 10 percent of married couples in the West were interracial in 2000, compared with 5 percent nationwide. Accordingly, a large proportion of the nation's interracial couples are found in the West-almost four of every 10 interracial couples in 2000 (see Figure 6, page 18).
Among U.S. states, the percent interracial ranges from a high of over 29 percent in Hawaii to less than 2 percent in West Virginia. More than 10 percent of married couples were interracial in five states: Hawaii, California, Oklahoma, Alaska, and Nevada (see Figure 7, page 18).
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Most states with an extremely low percentage of interracial couples have an overwhelmingly white population (such as North Dakota, West Virginia, Vermont, and Maine) or have primarily white and black residents (such as Alabama and Mississippi).37 Marriages between blacks and whites have been rare historically in these southern states.38
The five states with the largest proportions of white and multiple-race couples are Idaho, Alabama, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, and California. More than 2 percent of married couples in each of these states included a white and a multiple-race spouse, reflecting high proportions of part-American Indian, Asian, black, and SOR populations. SOR adults typically live in states with large Hispanic (in particular, Mexican-origin) populations (see Box 4). More than 2 percent of married couples reporting themselves as white/SOR live in five states: New Mexico, California, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas. All are south-western states with large numbers of Mexican-origin Hispanics. California-which accounts for almost one-third of U.S. Hispanics-had more than one-fourth of all white/SOR couples.
The states with high proportions of white and Asian couples are all located in the western United States, which has the largest concentrations of Asian Americans. The highest proportion is in Hawaii, where almost 9 percent of all married couples are white/Asian couples. More than 2 percent of married couples in Washington, Nevada, California, and Alaska are also white/Asian couples.
The top four places of residence for white/black couples center on the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area, including the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. In these four areas, white/black couples were about 1 percent of all married couples. These areas have large black populations that may be younger and better educated than the average, two characteristics that are associated with higher rates of intermarriage.
The U.S. states with the highest proportions of white /American Indian couples all have fairly large American Indian populations. In both Oklahoma and Alaska, more than 5 percent of all married couples are white/American Indian. Montana, South Dakota, and New Mexico also have relatively high proportions of white/American Indian couples.
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