New York Ranks Low Among States on Integrating Hispanics: New Report

With Hispanic Heritage Month in full swing and the presidential campaign all tied up in "that Mexican thing," the personal-finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2016’s States with the Most Integrated Hispanics, and New York fares poorly.

In fact, in high-school graduation rates New York ranked at the bottom.

In order to determine which states are home to the most integrated Hispanics, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three key dimensions: 1) Cultural & Civic Integration, 2) Educational Integration and 3) Economic Integration. Then they chose 17 metrics ranging from “Hispanics’ English proficiency” to “educational attainment” to “homeownership rate.”

Hispanic Integration* in New York (1=Most Integrated; 25=Avg.)

• 43rd – English Proficiency of Hispanics
• 42nd – % of Hispanics with at Least a Bachelor’s Degree
• 28th – Math & Reading Test Scores of Hispanic Students
• 40th – Median Annual Income of Hispanics (Adjusted for Cost of Living)
• 40th – Hispanic Unemployment Rate
• 49th – Hispanic Homeownership Rate
• 31st – Hispanic Poverty Rate
• 51st – Public High School Graduation Rate of Hispanic Students

*For a number of metrics, WalletHub compared Hispanics vs. whites, who represent the majority of the population, as a way to measure integration and normalize for differences that exist among states.

In terms of homeownership rates for Hispanics, the worst states are in a geographic cluster.

47. Rhode Island

48. New Jersey

49. New York

50. Connecticut

51. Massachusetts

The best states for Hispanic homeownership were:

1. New Mexico

2. Hawaii

3. Texas

4. Wyoming

5. West Virginia

New York's overall ranking was 41 — clearly pulled up from the bottom because the state's Hispanic students' reading and math test scores are about average for the country, even though the state's graduation rates for Hispanic students are the lowest.

For the full report and comments by experts, click here.

PHOTO/ WalletHub