Statistics

Advantage West Economic Development Group

  • The Latino population of WNC has grown 400% since 1990.
    Graph 1

U.S. Census Bureau

  • 15% of the US population is of Hispanic origin. (24.4% by 2050)
  • 12% of the US population speaks Spanish at home. (1 out of every 8 potential customers)
  • 7% of NC speaks Spanish at home.

UNC Chapel-Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School Hispanic Study

  • The economic impact of Hispanic spending in North Carolina is expected to be $18 billion per year by 2009.
  • The buying power of Hispanics in Asheville in 2004 was $219,367,000.

Hispanic purchasing power is only partially tapped in a number of localities. Opportunities exist for these localities to retain more of the Hispanic consumer dollar.

In some N.C. counties, Hispanic buying power exceeds their economic impact because communities lack sufficient retail and service facilities to meet the consumer needs of Hispanics.