8 Fast Facts About The Caribbean Community In The U.S.A This Caribbean American Heritage Month

Data from the first decennial US Census that allowed Caribbean people for the first time in 2020 to write-in their ancestry is out show there were 4.6 million respondents who self-identified as from the Caribbean region on the forms. That's 10 percent of the total foregin born population in the US. The numbers came following a decade plus battle by Carib ID, the movement founded in 2008 by Caribbean immigrant journalist, advocate and entrepreneur, Felicia J. Persaud, to get Caribbean nationals to accurately self-identify on US Census forms.

Nationals with ancestry in three Caribbean country - Jamaica, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago make up the majority of the Caribbean grouping, the data showed.

The Census 2020 data also reports that most Caribbean people in the US are between the ages of 45-64.

Caribbean groups were geographically concentrated: about 30 percent live in Florida while some 25 percent live in New York and 6 percent in New Jersey.

Over 50 percent are naturalized US citizens, meaning they can vote.

The majority of Caribbean people in the US have a high school diploma or a degree. Over 30 percent are a high school grad while almost 25 percent have a college degree or an associates.

Over 65 percent of Caribbean immigrants are employed. The majority are men at over 71 percent while women account for over 60 percent.

Some 34 percent entered the US in 2010 or later.