Race by Region

NPP calculates the Army recruitment rate by counting the number of recruits per thousand youth ages 15-24. Youth population numbers are from the US Census Bureau’s population estimates program.

The overall recruitment rate for the US has remained steady at 1.6 recruits per thousand youth since 2004. Rates among race groups and across regions have shown more variation. What follows is a regional breakdown of recruitment rates by race and ethnicity.

Note: where reference is made to the youth population, all recruits are still included in the analysis. In other words, recruits older than 24 years old are included, but the relevant comparisons by ZIP Code, county and state is the youth population since this constitutes the vast majority of recruits. Also note that the Army and the US Census Bureau treat Race and Ethnicity as separate categories. A recruit can identify as Hispanic and Black, for example. Recruitment rates for Native American/Alaskan Native and Asian Pacific Islanders, with recruitment rates of 1.23 and 1.08, respectively, are not represented on the regional charts due to small numbers.

The following shows the change in recruitment rates from 2007 to 2008 by race.