The median age for Hispanics is about 26, or 10 years younger than the median age in the U.S. as a whole. The ramifications of this one statistic alone are enormous.

The number of Hispanic households with incomes of at least $100,000 rose by 137 percent between 1990 and 2000.

The median incomes of Hispanic households rose by 20 percent between 1996 and 2001, compared to a rise of only 6 percent in all U.S. households.

13.3 million Hispanics were Internet active at the end of 2004, up from 12.4 million in 2003 and 8.7 million in 2000. They spend an average of five hours a week online, compared to 18 hours a week watching television (half of this in Spanish) 15 hours listening to radio (also half in Spanish).

The most popular Hispanic Web sites are Univision.com, Yahoo! En Espanol (Espanol.yahoo.com), Terra.es, Yupimsn.com and StarMedia.com.

The number of Hispanic-owned businesses in the U.S. rose by 31 percent between 1997 and 2002 to 1.6 million, and total sales were up 22 percent to $226.5 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This number has since risen to an estimated 2.2 million businesses, and it’s projected to rise to 3.3 million businesses by 2010.

One-third of all Hispanic-owned businesses in the U.S. are owned by women.

The IRS predicts that one out of every 10 small businesses in the U.S. will be Hispanic-owned by 2007, up from one in 13 today.

Hispanic advertising by U.S. companies grew by 24 percent in 2003, compared with 8.6 percent for advertising in general.

Home ownership among Hispanic families is just under 50 percent, well below the nation’s overall homeownership rate of 68 percent and the non-Hispanic white rate of 74 percent.

Of the total U.S. Hispanic population, 67 percent are from Mexico, 14 percent are from Central and South America, 9 percent are from Puerto Rico, 4 percent are from Cuba, and the remainder are of other Hispanic origin.