Unpacking the Hispanic Mortality Paradox: A Research Note on Country-of-Origin Variation

Hispanic immigrants in the United States face persistent socioeconomic disadvantage but paradoxically experience lower mortality throughout the life course. We document this Hispanic mortality paradox across 22 national-origin groups using Social Security administrative mortality records from 1988--2005. The paradox extends to migrants from every country in South America, Central America, and the Hispanic Caribbean. Yet the magnitude of the mortality advantage varies substantially by country of origin, state of arrival, and period of arrival, demonstrating the importance of examining subgroup-specific outcomes rather than treating Hispanics as a monolithic population. Taken together, these findings highlight the need to move beyond the aggregated Hispanic category and recognize how diverse migration histories and incorporation contexts shape the health trajectories of Hispanic immigrants.