US census data shows how Middle Eastern and Hispanic residents differ in racial identity

As the U.S. Census Bureau gets public feedback about how it should tally people into new race and ethnicity groups, the agency has released new research reflecting how U.S. residents from different backgrounds regard their racial and ethnic identities.

Earlier this year, the U.S. government changed how it categorizes people by race and ethnicity to more accurately count residents who identify as Hispanic and of Middle Eastern and North African heritage. Before this year, the categories hadn’t been changed in 27 years.

Under the revisions, questions about race and ethnicity that previously were asked separately on forms will be combined into a single question. That will give respondents the option to pick multiple categories at the same time, such as “Black,” “American Indian” and “Hispanic.” Research has shown that large numbers of Hispanic people aren’t sure how to answer the race question when that question is asked separately because they understand race and ethnicity to be similar and they often pick “some other race” or do not answer the question.

A Middle Eastern and North African category also was added to the choices available for questions about race and ethnicity. People descended from places such as Lebanon, Iran, Egypt and Syria had been encouraged to identify as white, but now will have the option of identifying themselves in the new group.

Results from the 2020 census, which asked respondents to write in their backgrounds on the form, suggest that more than 3.1 million U.S. residents identify as Middle Eastern and North African, otherwise known as MENA.

New research released this month by the Census Bureau showed that more than 2.4 million people, or around 80%, who wrote that their background was MENA did so under the white category in the question about their race on the 2020 census questionnaire.

Almost 500,000 people, or more than 16%, who wrote that they were MENA identified themselves as “some other race,” and almost 139,000 MENA people, or 4.5%, identified as Asian. Almost 50,000 MENA write-ins, or 1.6%, did so under the Black race category.

Among MENA subgroups, people of Lebanese and Syrian backgrounds had the highest percentages of people identifying their race as white, and people who identified as North African, Berber and Moroccan had the highest rates of marking their race as Black. People with Omani, Emirati and Saudi backgrounds identified at the highest rates as Asian, the report said.

In a separate report also released this month, the Census Bureau said there was a noticeable variation regarding racial identity among different U.S. Hispanic groups in the 2020 census.

“Some other race” and American Indian and Alaska Native responses were most common among people from Central America. White and “some other race” responses were most prevalent among residents from South America. Black alone responses and “Black and some other race” answers were most common among people from the Caribbean, the report said.

There also was variation by region and state.

The Northeast and West — particularly California, Maryland and New York — had the highest share of Hispanic respondents reporting that they were “some other race” alone. Identifying as white alone or “white and some other race” was most common among Hispanic respondents in the South. The Northeast had the highest share of Hispanic residents reporting as Black alone or “Black and some other race.” The Midwest had the largest rate of Hispanic residents identifying as American Indian and Alaska Native, particularly in South Dakota, the report said.

The new race and ethnicity categories will be used by the Census Bureau starting in the 2027 American Community Survey — the most comprehensive survey of U.S. life — and the 2030 census, which determines how many congressional seats and Electoral College votes each state gets.

The Census Bureau is seeking feedback from the public through mid-February. The statistical agency wants to hear from groups who feel that they are misclassified or if any groups should be added to the list of codes used to tally people by race and ethnicity.

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