In short: Yes, by US federal standards a Guatemalan is Hispanic or Latino. OMB’s 2024 definition of the category names Guatemalan as one of six example groups. On the forms the Census Bureau still uses, Hispanic origin and race are separate questions, and a Hispanic person “can be of any race”; a Maya Guatemalan can also report American Indian, a category whose 2024 definition names Maya as an example. Guatemala’s own census uses neither concept. Its 2018 census asked which pueblo people belong to: Ladino 56.0%, Maya 41.7%, Xinka 1.8%, Afrodescendant/Creole/Afromestizo 0.2%, Garífuna 0.1%.
Sources: the US Census Bureau’s pages on Hispanic origin, race and the 2024 standards, and OMB’s notice in the Federal Register of 29 March 2024, all read 3 October 2026; INE Guatemala’s 2018 census results report, read 24 September 2026 (INE’s site did not load from our connection on 3 October).
Two systems, two different questions
| United States (federal statistics) | Guatemala (INE census) | |
|---|---|---|
| What is asked | Hispanic origin, and race (two questions under the 1997 standards; one combined question under the 2024 standards) | Pueblo de pertenencia: which people you belong to |
| Where a Guatemalan fits | Hispanic or Latino, with Guatemalan as a named detail group | One of: Maya, Ladino, Xinka, Garífuna, Afrodescendiente/Creole/Afromestizo, Extranjero |
| Is it self-reported? | Yes | Yes (self-identification) |
| Uses the word “Hispanic”? | Yes | No |
So the same person can be Hispanic or Latino (Guatemalan) on a US form and Maya or Ladino on a Guatemalan one. The two are answers to different questions, not competing labels.
How the US classifies a Guatemalan
The rules the Census Bureau’s forms still follow (1997 standards)
The Census Bureau’s page on Hispanic origin, which says it references the 1997 standards, gives OMB’s definition:
OMB defines “Hispanic or Latino” as a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.
Under these standards:
- Hispanic origin is an ethnicity, asked separately from race. The Bureau’s page says “Persons who report themselves as Hispanic can be of any race and are identified as such in our data tables.”
- Race has five minimum categories: White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. People may report more than one.
- American Indian or Alaska Native is defined as “A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.”
- Guatemalan is a write-in. The Hispanic-origin question lists Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban; other origins, such as Guatemalan, go under “another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin”, where the American Community Survey takes a written-in subgroup.
The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey counts Guatemalans through that origin question; see how many Guatemalans live in the US, by state.
The 2024 revision (being phased in)
On 28 March 2024, OMB issued a revised Statistical Policy Directive No. 15, published in the Federal Register the next day. It changes three things that matter here:
- One combined question. Race and ethnicity become a single question, and the required instruction reads “What is your race and/or ethnicity? Select all that apply and enter additional details in the spaces below.” The directive says “A single selection will be considered a complete response”, so a Guatemalan who ticks only Hispanic or Latino has answered fully.
- Guatemalan is named. The Hispanic or Latino category “Includes individuals of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, Cuban, Dominican, Guatemalan, and other Central or South American or Spanish culture or origin.” OMB says the six examples reflect the largest groups in the 2020 Census, and “Guatemalan” also becomes a detailed checkbox.
- Maya is named under American Indian or Alaska Native, now defined as “Individuals with origins in any of the original peoples of North, Central, and South America, including, for example, Navajo Nation, Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, Native Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government, Nome Eskimo Community, Aztec, and Maya.”
The seven minimum categories under the 2024 standards are American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Middle Eastern or North African, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and White. Agencies must comply “not later than March 28, 2029.”
When the change reaches the data: the Census Bureau says it is preparing to use the 2024 standards in the 2027 American Community Survey and the 2030 Census, and that the first ACS 1-year estimates under them will be the 2027 data, planned for release in September 2028. Until then, published ACS tables follow the separate-question format.
How Guatemala counts its own peoples
Guatemala’s 2018 census (INE, XII Censo Nacional de Población y VII de Vivienda) asked each person which pueblo they belong to, by self-identification. It was the first census to include the categories Afrodescendiente/Creole/Afromestizo and Extranjero (foreign).
| Pueblo | 2002 | 2018 | People, 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ladino | 60.1% | 56.0% | 8,346,120 |
| Maya | 39.3% | 41.7% | 6,207,503 |
| Xinka | 0.1% | 1.8% | 264,167 |
| Afrodescendiente/Creole/Afromestizo | (not asked) | 0.2% | 27,647 |
| Garífuna | 0.0% | 0.1% | 19,529 |
| Extranjero (foreign) | (not asked) | 0.2% | 36,320 |
| Total | 14,901,286 |
Source: INE, Resultados del Censo 2018, Cuadro 7. 2002 also had an “Otro” row (0.5%).
What the report draws out:
- The Ladino share fell by 4 points between the two censuses; INE says it was the one pueblo whose share fell.
- The Xinka had the highest intercensal growth rate, 17.8%.
- Maya population is concentrated in Alta Verapaz (18.2% of all Maya), Quiché (13.6%) and Huehuetenango (12.3%). INE names the departments with the most Maya population, as a share of their residents, as Totonicapán (98.0%), Sololá (96.4%) and Alta Verapaz (93.0%).
The census does not have a “Hispanic” or a “race” category. “Ladino” is Guatemala’s own term; the census does not translate it into US categories, and neither do we.
For which languages these peoples speak, and how many people learned a Mayan language first, see Languages of Guatemala: is Spanish enough?, which uses the same census.
Filling in a US form as a Guatemalan
| You are… | On a form using the 1997 standards (separate questions) | On a form using the 2024 standards (combined question) |
|---|---|---|
| Any Guatemalan | Hispanic origin: yes, and write in Guatemalan | Hispanic or Latino, and tick the Guatemalan box |
| A Guatemalan who also identifies as Maya | Hispanic: yes; race: you may report American Indian or Alaska Native, and more than one race | You may tick both Hispanic or Latino and American Indian or Alaska Native |
| Born in the US to Guatemalan parents | The question asks about origin, and the answer is your own self-identification | Same |
The forms do not tell you what to answer. The Census Bureau’s race page says it “does not tell individuals which boxes to mark or what heritage to write in.”
Related
- How many Guatemalans live in the US, by state — ACS table B03001, which counts Guatemalan origin
- Languages of Guatemala — the 2018 census on Spanish and the 22 Mayan languages
- Is Guatemala a poor country? — World Bank income group, national poverty rate and UNDP ranking
Sources
- US Census Bureau, About the Hispanic Population (census.gov/topics/population/hispanic-origin/about.html), read 3 October 2026
- US Census Bureau, About the Topic of Race (census.gov/topics/population/race/about.html), read 3 October 2026
- OMB, Revisions to OMB’s Statistical Policy Directive No. 15, Federal Register document 2024-06469, 29 March 2024, read 3 October 2026
- US Census Bureau, Updates to Race/Ethnicity Standards for Our Nation, and the Random Samplings post Implementation of SPD 15 in the American Community Survey (November 2024), read 3 October 2026
- INE Guatemala, Resultados del XII Censo Nacional de Población y VII de Vivienda (December 2019), section 3, Pueblos, read 24 September 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a person from Guatemala Hispanic or Latino?
Under US federal standards, yes. OMB’s 2024 revision of its race and ethnicity standards defines Hispanic or Latino as including ‘individuals of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, Cuban, Dominican, Guatemalan, and other Central or South American or Spanish culture or origin’. The Census Bureau’s own page, which still follows the 1997 standards, defines it as a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race. The answer on any form is self-reported.
What race are Guatemalans considered in the United States?
Under the 1997 standards the Census Bureau still uses on its current forms, Hispanic origin and race are two separate questions, and the Census Bureau says people who report themselves as Hispanic can be of any race. There is no single race assigned to Guatemalans; each person answers the race question for themselves. Under the 1997 standards, American Indian or Alaska Native covers people with origins in the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment; the 2024 revision names Maya as an example in that category.
Is Guatemalan an ethnicity or a race?
On US federal forms, Guatemalan is a Hispanic or Latino origin. OMB’s 2024 standards list it as one of six detailed checkboxes under Hispanic or Latino, alongside Mexican, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, Cuban and Dominican. Guatemala’s own census uses neither term: the 2018 census asked people which pueblo they belong to (Maya, Ladino, Xinka, Garífuna, Afrodescendant/Creole/Afromestizo, or foreign).
What ethnicity are most Guatemalans?
In Guatemala’s 2018 census, which recorded self-identification by pueblo, 56.0% of people identified as Ladino and 41.7% as Maya. Xinka were 1.8%, Afrodescendant/Creole/Afromestizo 0.2%, Garífuna 0.1% and foreign 0.2%. The Maya share rose from 39.3% in 2002, and the Ladino share fell from 60.1%.
Is Guatemala Latino or Hispanic: what is the difference?
On US federal forms the two words are one category, Hispanic or Latino, with a single definition in OMB’s standards. Under the 2024 standards, Hispanic or Latino becomes one of seven options in a single combined race and ethnicity question, and a single selection counts as a complete answer. The Census Bureau plans to use that format in the 2027 American Community Survey and the 2030 Census.
