In the fiscal year of 2019, 21.39 percent of active-duty enlisted women were of Hispanic origin. The total number of active duty military personnel in 2019 amounted to 1.3 million people.

Ethnicities in the United States The United States is known around the world for the diversity of its population. The Census recognizes six different racial and ethnic categories: White American, Native American and Alaska Native, Asian American, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are classified as a racially diverse ethnicity.

The largest part of the population, about 61.3 percent, is composed of White Americans. The largest minority in the country are Hispanics with a share of 17.8 percent of the population, followed by Black or African Americans with 13.3 percent. Life in the U.S. and ethnicity However, life in the United States seems to be rather different depending on the race or ethnicity that you belong to. For instance: In 2019, native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders had the highest birth rate of 58 per 1,000 women, while the birth rae of white alone, non Hispanic women was 49 children per 1,000 women.

The Black population living in the United States has the highest poverty rate with of all Census races and ethnicities in the United States. About 19.5 percent of the Black population was living with an income lower than the 2020 poverty threshold. The Asian population has the smallest poverty rate in the United States, with about 8.1 percent living in poverty.

The median annual family income in the United States in 2020 earned by Black families was about 57,476 U.S. dollars, while the average family income earned by the Asian population was about 109,448 U.S. dollars. This is more than 25,000 U.S. dollars higher than the U.S. average family income, which was 84,008 U.S. dollars.

In 2023, there were almost *********** Black or African American veterans in the United States, representing around ** percent of the total veteran population.

This statistic shows the number of Army National Guard members in the United States from 1995 to 2010 by ethnic group. The Army National Guard had 291,000 white and 48,000 black members in 2010.

This dataset contains demographic information on every member of the US armed forces including gender, race, and rank.

Acknowlegement

Original Data

Foto von israel palacio auf Unsplash

In April 2024, 13.1% of people in non-officer roles in the armed forces were from ethnic minorities, compared with 7.9% in April 2012.

The graph illustrates the number of personnel in each branch of the U.S. Military for the year 2025. The x-axis lists the military branches: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard. The y-axis represents the number of personnel, ranging from 41,689 to 452,823. Among the branches, the Army has the highest number of personnel with 452,823, followed by the Navy with 337,209 and the Air Force with 321,211. The Marine Corps and Coast Guard have 170,201 and 41,689 personnel, respectively. The data is displayed in a bar graph format, effectively highlighting the distribution of military personnel across the different branches.

In 2022, approximately ******* active duty personnel in the United States Department of Defense were Black or African American. Furthermore, another ******* active duty DoD personnel were white in that year, making up around **** percent of the total number.

United States - Total Population: All Ages including Armed Forces Overseas was 343157.45000 Thous. in December of 2025, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Total Population: All Ages including Armed Forces Overseas reached a record high of 343157.45000 in December of 2025 and a record low of 156309.00000 in January of 1952. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Total Population: All Ages including Armed Forces Overseas - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on December of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Total Population: All Ages including Armed Forces Overseas (POP) from Jan 1952 to Dec 2025 about population and USA.

Context

Veteran Employment Outcomes (VEO) are new experimental U.S. Census Bureau statistics on labor market outcomes for recently discharged Army veterans. These statistics are tabulated by military specialization, service characteristics, employer industry (if employed), and veteran demographics. They are generated by matching service member information with a national database of jobs, using state-of-the-art confidentiality protection mechanisms to protect the underlying data.

https://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/veo_experimental.html

Content

"The VEO are made possible through data sharing partnerships between the U.S. Army, State Labor Market Information offices, and the U.S. Census Bureau. VEO data are currently available at the state and national level."

"Veteran Employment Outcomes (VEO) are experimental tabulations developed by the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) program in collaboration with the U.S. Army and state agencies. VEO data provides earnings and employment outcomes for Army veterans by rank and military occupation, as well as veteran and employer characteristics. VEO are currently released as a research data product in "experimental" form."

"The source of veteran information in the VEO is administrative record data from the Department of the Army, Office of Economic and Manpower Analysis. This personnel data contains fields on service member characteristics, such as service start and end dates, occupation, pay grade, characteristics at entry (e.g. education and test scores), and demographic characteristics (e.g. sex, race, and ethnicity). Once service member records are transferred to the Census Bureau, personally-identifying information is stripped and veterans are assigned a Protected Identification Key (PIK) that allows for them to be matched with their employment outcomes in Census Bureau jobs data."

Earnings, and Employment Concepts

Earnings "Earnings are total annual earnings for attached workers from all jobs, converted to 2018 dollars using the CPI-U. For the annual earnings tabulations, we impose two labor force attachment restrictions. First, we drop veterans who earn less than the annual equivalent of full-time work at the prevailing federal minimum wage. Additionally, we drop veterans with two or more quarters with no earnings in the reference year. These workers are likely to be either marginally attached to the labor force or employed in non-covered employment."

Employment

"While most VEO tabulations include earnings from all jobs, tabulations by employer characteristics only consider the veteran's main job for that year. Main jobs are defined as the job for which veterans had the highest earnings in the reference year. To attach employer characteristics to that job, we assign industry and geography from the highest earnings quarter with that employer in the year. For multi-establishment firms, we use LEHD unit-to-worker imputations to assign workers to establishments, and then assign industry and geography."

https://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/veo_experimental.html

Acknowledgements

United States Census Bureau

https://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/veo_experimental.html

Photo by Robert Linder on Unsplash

Inspiration

U.S. Veterans.

Monthly Intercensal Estimates of the Resident plus Armed Forces Overseas Population by Single Year of Age and Sex: April 1, 1990 to April 1, 2000 // Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division // For detailed information about the methods used to create the intercensal population estimates, see https://www.census.gov/popest/methodology/intercensal_nat_meth.pdf. // The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program produces intercensal estimates each decade by adjusting the existing time series of postcensal estimates for a decade to smooth the transition from one decennial census count to the next. They differ from the postcensal estimates that are released annually because they rely on a formula that redistributes the difference between the April 1 postcensal estimate and April 1 census count for the end of the decade across the estimates for that decade. Meanwhile, the postcensal estimates incorporate current data on births, deaths, and migration to produce each new vintage of estimates, and to revise estimates for years back to the last census. The Population Estimates Program provides additional information including historical and postcensal estimates, evaluation estimates, demographic analysis, and research papers on its website: https://www.census.gov/popest/index.html.

Veterans by largest Race and Ethnicity categories, by Census Tract and Health and Human Services Service Area. Veterans: Civilians who have served (even for a short time), but are not currently serving, on active duty in the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or the Coast Guard, or who served in the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II. People who served in the National Guard or Reserves are classified as veterans only if they were ever called or ordered to active duty. Source: U.S. Census Bureau; 2013-2017 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table S2101.

The United States military has a long history of ethnic minorities serving in its ranks, with black Americans having served as far back as the Revolutionary War. The Vietnam War took place during a period of changing race relations in the United States, with the Civil Rights Movement reaching its peak in the mid-1960s, and this too was reflected in the military. The Vietnam War was the first major conflict in which black and white troops were not formally segregated, however, discrimination did still occur with black soldiers reporting being subject to overt racism, being unjustly punished, and having fewer promotion opportunities than their white counterparts.

In the early phases of the war, black casualty rates were much higher than for other races and ethnicities, with some reports showing that black soldiers accounted for 25 percent of the casualties recorded in 1965. This declined substantially as the war progressed, however, the proportion of black service personnel among those fallen during the war was still disproportionately high, as black personnel comprised only 11 percent of the military during this era. A smaller number of other ethnic minorities were killed during the war, comprising two percent of the total.

The U.S. Army remains the largest branch of the American military, with 449,344 active duty personnel in 2023. While the Army leads in numbers, the newly established Space Force had just 8,879 active duty members, highlighting the evolving nature of modern warfare and the increasing importance of space-based capabilities. Confidence in military remains high Despite fluctuations in force size, public trust in the U.S. military remains strong. In 2024, 61 percent of Americans expressed a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the armed forces, a slight increase from the previous year. While a slightly higher share of Republicans have shown more confidence in the military, trust in the institution remains high across party lines. Global commitments The United States continues to invest heavily in its military capabilities, with defense spending reaching 916.02 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. This substantial budget supports not only domestic defense needs but also enables the U.S. to respond to global crises, as evidenced by the over 40 billion euros in military aid provided to Ukraine following Russia's invasion. The high level of spending, which translates to about 2,220 U.S. dollars per capita.

Comprehensive demographic dataset for Military Reservation, Buckeye, AZ, US including population statistics, household income, housing units, education levels, employment data, and transportation with year-over-year changes.

United States Population Est Prog: Population: Resident & Armed Forces Overseas data was reported at 329,130.000 Person th in Nov 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 328,927.000 Person th for Oct 2018. United States Population Est Prog: Population: Resident & Armed Forces Overseas data is updated monthly, averaging 238,270.000 Person th from Jan 1952 (Median) to Nov 2018, with 803 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 329,130.000 Person th in Nov 2018 and a record low of 156,309.000 Person th in Jan 1952. United States Population Est Prog: Population: Resident & Armed Forces Overseas data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by US Census Bureau. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.G001: Population.

These instructional materials were prepared for use with UNION ARMY RECRUITS IN BLACK REGIMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1862-1865 (ICPSR 9426), compiled by Jacob Metzer and Robert A. Margo. The data file and accompanying documentation are provided to assist educators in instructing students about the demographic, military, and medical history of African-American men who volunteered for service in the Union Army during the American Civil War. An instructor's handout has also been included. This handout contains the following sections, among others: (1) General goals for student analysis of quantitative datasets, (2) Specific goals in studying this dataset, (3) Suggested appropriate courses for use of the dataset, (4) Tips for using the dataset, and (5) Related secondary source readings. This data collection was designed to examine the characteristics of free Blacks and ex-slaves mustered into the Union Army between 1862 and the end of the Civil War. In addition to variables on personal characteristics (such as skin, eye, and hair color, height, age, birthplace, and occupation before enlistment), the data also contain Army-related variables (such as regiment and company number, rank, enlistment date and place, changes in rank, and date and cause of end of service).

SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES VETERAN STATUS - DP02 Universe - Civilian population 18 Year and over Survey-Program - American Community Survey 5-year estimates Years - 2020, 2021, 2022 Veteran status is used to identify people with active duty military service and service in the military Reserves and the National Guard. Veterans are men and women who have served (even for a short time), but are not currently serving, on active duty in the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or the Coast Guard, or who served in the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II. People who served in the National Guard or Reserves are classified as veterans only if they were ever called or ordered to active duty, not counting the 4-6 months for initial training or yearly summer camps.

In 2023, around 21.3 percent of active duty officers in the United States Navy were women. Additionally, approximately 19.4 percent of officers in the Space Force were women.

ANSUR 2 (2012)

A public dataset drawn from the 2012 U.S. Army Anthropometric Survey. This sample is improved in all respects from the ANSUR 88 study and should be used in place of ANSUR 88. Note that this military population is not likely to be representative of any particular user population, but remains valuable because of the ability to explore interrelationships among the variables.

References:

1. http://mreed.umtri.umich.edu/mreed/downloads.html