Ethnicity, Geography, and Occupational Achievement of Hispanic Men in the United States

Using data from the Survey of Income and Education of the U.S. Census Bureau, this Note examines occupation inequality between Hispanic and non-Hispanic white men in the United States. Following previous research, the author hypothesizes that Hispanic occupational disadvantage is affected by the geographic distribution of Hispanics, and the subgroup structure of the Hispanic population. However, results indicate that neither variable has a strong effect. Instead, the results support a pattern of "conditional occupational assimilation": If Hispanic men speak English at least "very well" and have completed at least 12 years of school, then their occupational achievement is close to that of white non-Hispanic men with similar English fluency and schooling. Otherwise, the occupations of Hispanics are inferior to those of white non-Hispanic men with similar linguistic and educational characteristics. The author also reconsiders the concept of ethnicity effects on occupational inequality.