Felicidades to our Mexican American readers. Today is Cinco de Mayo, which marks the Mexican Army’s victory over French invaders at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

Some interesting facts about Cinco de Mayo, and the many Mexicans who live in the U.S.

  • 25.9 million U.S. residents were of Mexican origin (as of 2004, that number is higher now), constituting 9 percent of the nation’s total population. 16.6 million people of Mexican origin reside either in California (10.1) or Texas (6.5), making up nearly one-third of the residents of these two states.

  • 15.7 million people of Mexican descent were born in the U.S. 10.3 million are foreign-born residents. One third of all foreign-born people in the U.S. are from Mexico.

  • The median age of people of Mexican descent in the U.S. is 25.3, compared with 36.2 years of age for the population as a whole. 1.1 million people of Mexican descent age 25 or older have a bachelor’s degree or more. 622,000 Mexican Americans are military veterans.

  • The median household income for those of Mexican heritage is $35,185 and 23.6 percent fell below the poverty rate in 2004. 49 percent of those of Mexican origin own their own house.

  • When it comes to trade, the value of of goods traded between the U.S. and Mexico in 2005 was $290.2 billion. According to the U.S. Census (www.census.gov/foreign-trade). Mexico is our second-largest trading partner (after Canada – China is down the list).

  • When it comes to business, around 700,000 firms are owned by people of Mexican descent (2002 numbers). Of these, 275,000 are in California and 234,000 in Texas. Mexicans, and those of Mexican origin accounted for nearly $100 billion in sales (www.census.gov/Press) and American companies making Mexican specialty foods imported more than $100 billion in food products.

My personal favorite are Mexican avocados.

Sources for these facts: American FactFinder and the Census.

This Sunday, I’ll be broadcasting my radio show live from the Georgia World Congress Center. The Learning Annex is coming to Atlanta to put on its Real Estate Wealth show this Saturday and Sunday. I’ll only be there on Sunday, but if you’ll be showing up, I’m happy to answer any questions you may have after the show (11a-1p).

I hope you can make it over to say hi. But if not, be sure to tune in online. Adios!

May 5, 2006.