Cinco de Mayo celebrates the legendary Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, in which a Mexican force of 4,500 men faced 6,000 well-trained French soldiers. The battle lasted four hours and ended in a victory for the Mexican army under Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza. Along with Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 16, Cinco de Mayo has become a time to celebrate Mexican heritage and culture.

33.6 million

The number of U.S. residents of Mexican origin.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
<//factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|400|401>

25.7

Median age of people in the United States of Mexican origin in 2011. The total Hispanic population had a median age of 27.5, and for the total population it was 37.3 in 2011.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
<//factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|400|401>

12.0 million

Total number of the Mexican-origin population in the United States that resided in California in 2011. For Texas, the number was 8.6 million.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
<//factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201/0400000US06|0400000US48/popgroup~001|400|401>

700,000

Number of U.S. military veterans of Mexican origin in 2011.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
<//factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~401>

1.65 million

Number of people of Mexican descent 25 and older with a bachelor's degree or higher in 2011. This included 450,000 who had a graduate or professional degree.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
<//factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~401>

33.3%

Percentage of married-couple families, with own children younger than 18, among households with a householder of Mexican origin in 2011. For all households, the corresponding percentage was 20.0 percent.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
<//factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401>

4.17 people

Average size of families with a householder of Mexican origin in 2011. The average size of all families was 3.25 people.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
<//factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401>

67.4%

Percentage 16 and older of Mexican origin in the labor force in 2011. The percentage was 64.0 percent for the population as a whole.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
<//factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401>

16.4%

Percentage of employed civilians 16 years and older of Mexican origin who worked in management, business, science and arts occupations in 2011. In addition, 26.7 percent worked in service occupations; and 21.1 percent in sales and office occupations. With 17.8 percent in natural resources, construction and maintenance occupations and 18.0 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations these professions are not significantly different in ranking.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
<//factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401>

$38,884

The annual median income of households with a householder of Mexican origin in 2011. For the population as a whole, the corresponding amount was $50,502.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
<//factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401>

27.5%

Poverty rate in 2011 for all people of Mexican heritage. For the population as a whole, the corresponding rate was 15.9 percent.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
<//factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401>

25.0%

Poverty rate in 2011 for all families of Mexican heritage. For all families, the corresponding family poverty rate was 11.7 percent.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
<//factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401>

48.5%

Percentage of householders of Mexican origin in occupied housing units who owned the home in which they lived. For all householders, the corresponding rate was 64.6 percent.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
<//factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401>

11.6 million

Number of U.S. residents of Mexican origin in 2011 who were foreign born, including 53.4 percent male and 46.6 percent female.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
<//factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401>

74.6%

Percentage of Mexican-origin people who spoke a language other than English at home in 2011; among these people, 34.3 percent spoke English less than "very well." Among the population as a whole, the corresponding figures were 20.8 percent and 8.7 percent, respectively.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey
<//factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/S0201//popgroup~001|401>

$494.0 billion

The value of total goods traded between the United States and Mexico in 2012. Mexico was our nation's third-leading trading partner, after Canada and China. The leading U.S. export commodity to Mexico in 2012 was light oils and preparations ($11.7 billion); the leading U.S. import commodity from Mexico in 2012 was crude oil ($37.3 billion).
Source: Foreign Trade Statistics
<//www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/top/top1212yr.html>
<//data.usatradeonline.gov/usatrade/Browse/BrowseTables.aspx>

367

Number of U.S. tortilla manufacturing establishments in 2010, with 116 of these establishments located in Texas. The establishments that produce this unleavened flat bread employed 16,143 people. Tortillas, the principal food of the Aztecs, are known as the "bread of Mexico."
Source: County Business Patterns: 2010 <//www.census.gov/econ/cbp/>

1.0 million

Number of firms owned by people of Mexican origin in 2007. They accounted for 45.8 percent of all Hispanic-owned firms. Mexicans led all Hispanic subgroups.
Source: Hispanic-Owned Firms: 2007 <//www.census.gov/econ/sbo/>

$154.9 billion

Sales and receipts for firms owned by people of Mexican origin in 2007, 44.2 percent of all Hispanic-owned firm receipts.
Source: Hispanic-Owned Firms: 2007 <//www.census.gov/econ/sbo/>

47.8%

Percentage increase in the number of businesses owned by people of Mexican origin between 2002 and 2007.
Source: Hispanic-Owned Firms: 2007
<//www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/business_ownership/cb10-145.html>

70.5%

Percentage of all Mexican-owned U.S. businesses in California and Texas combined in 2007. California had the most Mexican-owned U.S. firms (36.1 percent), followed by Texas (34.4 percent) and Arizona (4.1 percent).
Source: Hispanic-Owned Firms: 2007 <//www.census.gov/econ/sbo/>

16.5%

Percentage of all firms in Texas that were Mexican-owned in 2007, which led all states. New Mexico was next (15.1 percent), followed by California (10.9 percent), Arizona (8.6 percent) and Nevada (4.9 percent).
Source: Hispanic-Owned Firms: 2007 <//www.census.gov/econ/sbo/>

32.3%

Percentage of Mexican-owned U.S. firms in the construction and repair, maintenance, personal and laundry services sectors. Mexican-owned firms accounted for 5.1 percent of all U.S. businesses in these sectors.
Source: Hispanic-Owned Firms: 2007 <//www.census.gov/econ/sbo/>