Non-Hispanic Whites, also known asWhite Anglo Americans orNon-Latino Whites, areWhite Americans classified by theUnited States census as "white" and notHispanic.^[3][4] According to the United States Census Bureau yearly estimates, as of July 1, 2023, Non-Hispanic whites make up about 58.4% of theU.S. population.^[5] The White non-Hispanic population remained the largest racial or ethnic group in the United States according to the 2020 census data, accounting for 57.8% of the population, a decline from 63.7% in the 2010 census. TheUnited States Census Bureau defineswhite to includeEuropean Americans,Middle Eastern Americans, andNorth African Americans.^[6] Americans of European ancestry are divided into various ethnic groups. More than half of the white population areGerman,Irish,English,Italian,French andPolish Americans. Many Americans are also the product of other European groups that migrated to parts of the US in the 19th and 20th centuries, as the bulk of immigrants from various countries in Northern, Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, as well as the Caucasus region, migrated to the United States.

Non-Hispanic Whites

Distribution of Non-Hispanic Whites by county according to the2020 census
Total population
203,890,513 (total)[1] 61.6% of the total U.S. population (2020)[1] 191,697,647 (white alone)[1] 57.84% of the total US population (2020)[1]and 12,192,866 (white in combination)[1] 3.67% of the total U.S. population (2020)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Throughout thecontiguous United States
Languages
PredominantlyAmerican English
Religion
48% Protestant, 24% Unaffiliated, 19% Catholic, 3% Jewish, 2% Mormon, 2% Other Faiths (2014)[2]
Related ethnic groups
OtherAnglo-Americans

The Non-Hispanic White population was heavily derived fromBritish, as well asFrench settlement of the Americas, in addition tosettlement by other Europeans such as theGermans (seePennsylvania Dutch),Swiss,Belgians,Dutch,Austrians, andSwedes that began in the 17th century (seeHistory of the United States). The earlySpanish presence in the country contributed a certain degree of that ancestry to the white population in parts of thesouth andsouthwest, as many Americans ofIsleño,Basque, or other colonial Spanish heritage do not necessarily identify as "Hispanic or Latino" on the census, or are interchangeable with the "non-Hispanic White" category, as they lack any ties to Latin America, or recent ties to Spain.^{[citation needed]}

Population growth since the early 19th century to the end of the 20th century is attributed to sustained high birth rates alongside relatively low death rates among settlers and natives alike. Population growth has slowed in the 21st century. There has also been periodicmassive immigration from European and West Asian countries, especiallyGermany,Ireland,Italy,Greece, theNetherlands,France, as well asPoland,Russia,Lithuania,Norway,Sweden,Finland, theCzech Republic, the countries that were a part of the formerOttoman Empire (Turkey,Lebanon, andSyria),Portugal,Serbia,Croatia,Hungary,Ukraine,Armenia, andIran. Significant migration ofJews of European, North African, and Middle Eastern descent into the United States is also notable.^{[citation needed]}

The classification is also typically used to refer to anEnglish-speaking American, in distinction toSpanish speakers.^[7] In some parts of the country,^[where?] the termAnglo-American is used to refer to non-Hispanic white English speakers as distinct from Spanish (and Portuguese or Italian) speakers, although the term is more frequently used to refer to people of perceivedBritish orEnglish descent.^[8][9][10]

The first Europeans who came to present United States or Canada wereNorse explorers around the year 1000;^[11] however, they were ultimately absorbed or killed off, leaving no permanent settlements behind.^[12] In the 1500s, Spain founded several settlements in the contiguous United States, likeSan Agustín. Later,Pilgrims and colonists came in the 1600s along theEast Coast, mainly from England, in search of economic opportunities and religious freedom.^[13] Over time emigrants from Europe settled the coastal regions developing a commercial economy. Between one-half and two-thirds of White immigrants to theAmerican colonies between the 1630s and American Revolution had come asindentured servants.^[14] The total number of European immigrants to all 13 colonies before 1775 was about 500,000; of these 55,000 were involuntary prisoners. Of the 450,000 or so European arrivals who came voluntarily, an estimated 48% were indentured.^[15]

By the time ofAmerican Revolution there were about 2.5 million Whites in the colonies.^[16] The white population was largely of English, Irish, Scots-Irish, Scottish, German, Dutch andFrench Huguenot descent at the time.^[17] Between the revolution and the 1820s there was relatively little immigration to the United States. Starting after the 1820s large scale migration to the United States began and lasted until the1920s.^[18] Many of the newcomers wereCatholics of Irish,^[19] Italian,^[20] and Polish^[21] descent which lead to anativist backlash. Some Americans worried about the growing Catholic population and wanted to maintain the United States as anAnglo Saxon Protestant nation.^[22][23] Over the course of the 19th century,European mass emigration to the United States and high birthrates grew the white population.^[24][25][26]

After the American Revolution, white Americanssettled the entire nation west of Appalachian Mountains, ultimately displacing theNatives and populating the entire country by the late 19th century. All immigration to the United States declined markedly between the mid-1920s until the 1960s due to a combination of immigration laws, theGreat Depression, andWorld War II.^[27] Waves of Jewish, Syrian, and Lebanese immigration also occurred around this time.^[28][29][30]

Since1965 white migration to the United States has been relatively minor compared to other racial and ethnic groups. During the 1990s there was a moderate increase from former communist countries of theEastern Bloc and theSoviet Union.^[31] At the same time birthrates amongst Whites have fallen below replacement level.^[32] In 1980, non-Hispanic whites made up about 80 percent of the U.S. population, but that number has declined sharply in recent years.^[33] It is projected that white people will become a minority by 2045.^[34]

White Americans have developed their own music, art, cuisine, fashion, and political economy largely based on a combination of traditional European ones.^[35][36] Today, the majority of White Americans areProtestants, although there are also large groups of Catholics and Jews throughout the population.^[37] Many Europeans oftenAnglicized their names and over time most Europeans adopted English as their primary language and intermarried with other white groups.^[38][39]

White Americans have been found to eat more vegetables and trend toward higher alcohol consumption than other ethnic groups.^[40]

Baseball has been a mainstay of white American culture since the 1860sCivil War, contributing to nationwidemelting pot dynamics. The sport hadelements of racial segregation until the late 20th century, with emphasis on North-South reconciliation in the Civil War's aftermath resulting in the sport being mainly used to unify white people.^[41] Theunwritten rules of baseball have also sometimes been used to assert an American standard of self-restraint that nonwhite people have often allegedly failed to uphold.^[42][43]

• Non-Hispanic White American population distribution over time
•  
  1930 (Non-Mexican White)
•  
  1980
•  
  1990
•  
  2000
•  
  2010
•  
  2020

Non-Hispanic Whites are the largestracial andethnic group inAmerica, being themajority ofAmerica's population at 58.4%.^[44] Although the percentage has been declining in the last few decades, from 89.5% in 1950 to 59.3% in 2022.^[45][44] According to generational data from the 2020 census, the racial diversity of each age group is increasing. White non-Hispanics make up 77% of the population over the age of 75, 67% of the population between the ages of 55 and 64, 55% of the population between the ages of 35 and 44, and just 50% of the population between the ages of 18 and 24.^[33] In actuality, Non-Hispanic whites have still been growing. Between 2000 and 2010, the Non-Hispanic White population grew from 194,552,774 to 196,817,552. This was a growth of 1.2% over the 10-year period, due topopulation momentum.^[46] The population continued to grow to 196,817,552 in 2010 to 197,639,521 in 2022.^[44]

The reason for falling percentage of non-Latino/Hispanic white Americans in the last century is due to multiple factors:

1.Non-European Immigration. The United States has the largest number of immigrants in the world, with the vast majority coming from countries where the population is of non-White and/or Latin American origin. Immigration to the United States from European countries has been in a steady decline since World War II averaging 56% of all immigrants in the 1950s and declining to 35% of all immigrants in the 1960s, 20% in the 1970s, 11% in the 1980s, 14% in the 1990s, and 13% in the 2000s. In 2009, approximately 90% of all immigrants came from non-European countries.^[50] The United States does receive a small number of non-Latino White immigrants, mainly from countries such as Canada, Poland, Russia, and the UK.^[51]

2.Intermarriage. The United States is seeing an unprecedented increase in intermarriage between the various racial and ethnic groups. In 2008, a record 14.6% of all new marriages in the United States were between spouses of a different race or ethnicity from one another. 9% of non-Latino whites who married in 2008 married either a non-White or Latino. Among all newlyweds in 2008, intermarried pairings were primarily white-Latinoof any race (41%) as compared to white-Asian (15%), white-black (11%), and other combinations (33%). Other combinations consists of pairings between different minority groups, multi-racial people, and Native Indigenous Americans.^[52] The children of such unions would not automatically be classified as white non-Latino. One self-identifies his or her racial and/or ethnic category.

3.Methodology. In the 2000 Census, people were allowed to check more than one race in addition to choosing "Latino". There was strong opposition to this from some civil rights activists who feared that this would reduce the size of various racial minorities. The government responded by counting those who are white and of one minority race or ethnicity as minorities for the purposes of civil-rights monitoring and enforcement. Hence one could be 1/8th Black and still be counted as a minority.^[53] Also, because this does not apply to Latino origin (one is either Latino or not, but cannot be both Latinoand non-Latino), the offspring of Latinos and non-Latinos are usually counted as Latino.^[54] In 2017, thePew Research Center reported that high intermarriage rates and declining Latin American immigration has led to 11% of US adults with Latino ancestry (5.0 million people) to no longer identify as Latino.^[55] First-generation immigrants from Latin America identify themselves as "Latino" at a very high rate (97%), which slowly falls in each succeeding generation (in the second generation, to 92%; in the third, to 77%; and in the fourth, to 50%).^[55]

4.Decrease. Minority populations are younger than non-Latino Whites. The national median age in 2011 was 37.3 years, with non-Latino Whites having the oldest median age (42.3); by contrast, Latinos had the youngest median age (27.6). Non-Latino Blacks (32.9) and non-Latino Asians (35.9) also are younger than whites.^[56] In 2013, the Census Bureau reported that for the first time, due to the more advanced age profile of the non-Latino White population, non-Latino Whites died at a faster rate than non-Latino White births.^[57]

In 2011, for the first time inAmerican history, Non-Hispanic Whites accounted for fewer than half of the births in the country, accounting for 49.6% of total births.^[58] This increased to 51.5% in 2021, regaining the majority in the process.^[59] This is likely due to the birth rate declining among people of color. For example, between 1990 and 2010, the birth rate declined 29% among Blacks, 25 percent among Asians, 21% among Hispanics, but only 5% among White people.^[60] If this trend continues the White birth rate will surpass the Black birth rate in a few years.

A total of 1,887,656 babies were born in 2021, a 2.39% increase from 2020. Additionally, researchers found that the White fertility rate increased from 1.551 in 2020 to 1.598 in 2021, the first substantial rise since 2014.^[61] Although the exact reason of why the number of births rose in 2021 is unknown, a study showed that the uptick in births came among college-educated women and native-born Americans.^[62] Despite the increase, it is still below thereplacement level of 2.100.

According to an analysis released in 2023 byWilliam H. Frey, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, only 47 percent of American children are non-Hispanic white.^[33]

In 2014, the religious majority among Whites were Christians at 70%, more specifically, Protestants at 48%. However, there are also large groups of Catholics and Jews. Furthermore, 34% of White Americans go to religious services weekly, and an additional 32% go to religious services once or twice a month.^[63] Although historically, White Christians made up themajority of theAmerican population, the number of White Christians has now plateaued at about 44% of the country's population.^[64]

• Non-Hispanic blacks
• Race and ethnicity in the United States census
• Anglo
• Emigration from Europe
• European Americans
• Stereotypes of white Americans
• White Americans
• White Anglo-Saxon Protestant
• White ethnic
• White Latino Americans
• White Southerners
• White demographic decline
• List of U.S. states by non-Hispanic white population
• List of U.S. cities with non-Hispanic white plurality populations in 2010