Stateside Puerto Ricans

Stateside Puerto Ricans or Puerto Ricans in the United States (Spanish: Puertorriqueños en Estados Unidos), also known as Puerto Rican Americans (Spanish: puertorriqueños estadounidenses, or puertorriqueños americanos), are Americans in the United States proper, namely the 50 states and Washington, D ., who were born in or trace any ancestry to the archipelago and island of Puerto Rico, a US unincorporated territory and insular area whose people are US nationals since the Treaty of Paris of 1898 and statutory birthright US citizens since the Jones–Shafroth Act of 1917. The 2020 US Census counted the number of Puerto Ricans living in the United States proper at 5 million. As of 2024, the US Census Bureau estimates the Puerto Rican population to be 6 million, making up 1 % of the US population. After Mexicans, Puerto Ricans are the second largest Hispanic group, representing 9 % of the US Hispanic population. They are also the largest West Indian group, representing 40 % of people with origins in the Caribbean. The Northeast (2 million) and Florida (1 million) account for 65 % of the Puerto Rican population in the United States proper. The states with the largest Puerto Rican populations are Florida, New York (995,000), Pennsylvania (494,000), New Jersey (484,000), Massachusetts (330,000), and Connecticut (300,000). Puerto Ricans make up the largest share of the population in Connecticut (8 %), Florida (5 %), New Jersey (5 %), New York (5 %), Massachusetts (4 %), and Rhode Island (4 %). They are the largest Hispanic group in Connecticut (42 %), Pennsylvania (39 %), Massachusetts (33 %), New York (24 %), New Hampshire (22 %), and New Jersey (21 %). They are the second largest Hispanic group in several states, including Ohio (25 %), Rhode Island (23 %), and Florida (19 %), behind Mexicans (41 %), Dominicans (38 %), and Cubans (26 %), respectively. Greater New York is the metropolitan area with the largest Puerto Rican population, with New York City being the largest demographic, cultural, and historical center for Puerto Ricans in the United States proper. The portmanteau "Nuyorican" refers to Puerto Ricans and their descendants in the New York City area. Greater Orlando and Greater Philadelphia are the following metropolitan areas with the largest Puerto Rican populations. The largest share of Puerto Ricans in metropolitan areas are found in Springfield (23 %), and neighboring Greater Orlando (13 %) and Lakeland-Winter Haven (13 %).