In 2007, New England was considerably less racially diverse than the nation as a whole. While white people make up 80 percent of the national population, they constitute 88.3 percent of New England’s population. Every other group is underrepresented in New England relative to their share in the U.S. population, including the Hispanic population which constitutes only 7.8 percent of New England’s population and 15.1 percent of all Americans. The Southern New England states—Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island—are more racially diverse than the northern states where white peoples comprise all but 5.5 percent of the population.

In response to demographic shifts in the population, for the 2000 Census the Bureau expanded the possible racial category responses. For the first time, Americans were able to choose more than one racial category to represent their background; 2.4 percent used this option. Additionally, 5.5 percent of Americans identified their race as “some other” illustrating the growing number of people who do not identify with the just one or traditional racial categories.

Of note, as of July 2002, Hispanics surpassed blacks as the largest minority ethnic or racial group in America. The U.S. Census Bureau categorizes Hispanic Origin as an ethnicity rather than a race, and people who indicate they are of Hispanic Origin can be of any race. These pie charts—which display the share of the region and nation’s population in each racial category—also include information about the share of the population that report Hispanic ethnicity.

Detailed information about the economic and social charachteristics of New England's immigrants is available in NEPPC Research Report 08-2: A Profile of New England's Immigrants.