2015’s States where Hispanics are Most Assimilated

Coming to America can be a challenge for immigrants. Adapting to a new way of life is another — and sometimes more painful. As one researcher described it, cultural assimilation is “an ongoing social process.” It requires far more than learning to speak the dominant language or count money in the local currency. “Full integration into U.S. society and economy generally takes more than one generation, with children of immigrants reliably outperforming their parents in educational attainment, occupational status, wealth, and home ownership,” according to the Migration Policy Institute.

Today, the Hispanic community comprises 17.4 percent of the total U.S. population and is the second fastest-growing ethnic minority group behind Asians. Much of their growth in the past decade-plus has been fueled by natural U.S. births. If the achievement of full integration indeed requires at least one subsequent generation, as the MPI points out, then areas where such births have occurred theoretically will reflect successful assimilation of a group.

In order to measure how well Hispanics have adapted to the American mainstream relative to where they live, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 14 key metrics. Our data set ranges from English proficiency to educational attainment to homeownership rates of Hispanics. You can find the results of our ranking, additional expert commentary and a detailed methodology below.