MIAMI — Florida is gaining more Latinos than any other state but one, according to a new report Wednesday.
With more than 700,000 Latinos added to its population between 2015 and 2019, Florida saw its overall Latino growth climb more than every other state’s except for Texas, according to research by the Latin Donor Collaborative, a nonprofit focused on advancing Latino causes.
Other, smaller states are adding Latinos at a faster clip. But among large states, the 14.1% growth rate the Sunshine State saw during the period was faster than every other state with more than 500,000 residents save Pennsylvania.
The report also found that if Latinos in the U.S. comprised their own economy, they would rank about the size of France and would be growing 50% faster than the U.S. economy as a whole.
“Hispanics in the U.S. are like the cavalry coming over the hill to save the economy,” said LDC co-founder and chairman Sol Trujillo. “Eighty percent of net new businesses created in U.S. are created by Latinos and Latinas, their consumption growth is 70% faster than rest of the economy — this is our most vibrant cohort.”
The California-based LDC was founded to reform the image of Latino Americans in the minds of non-Latino Americans, said LDC executive director Ana Valdez. Because they are a majority in Miami, she said, Latinos there do not necessarily experience the same challenges as others in the U.S.
“Miami is a place where you can live a healthy life being Latino without feeling targeted, or shamed, or that you are diff[erent] than others,” Valdez said. “Being in California, and other states, is different. In Miami, even non-Latinos know a lot of Latinos in power, so there’s no misconception. But the majority of non-Latinos in America don’t know about the massive positive impact Latinos make.”
Or as the report’s authors conclude:
“The persistence of U.S. Latinos is not only an engine of economic growth, it is an antidote to long-term demographic challenges confronting the nation and also a bright spot during an extraordinary year of economic upheaval,” they write. “The U.S. Latino GDP will continue to be a major source of strength, resilience and growth for the nation, most likely for decades into the future.”
