What Races Are There? The 7 Federal Categories and 2024 Changes

The U.S. government recognizes seven race and ethnicity categories for federal data collection, civil rights reporting, and the Census. If you are asking what races there are on federal forms, the current answer comes from the Office of Management and Budget’s Statistical Policy Directive No. 15, revised in March 2024, which replaced the older five-race framework with a single set of seven co-equal categories.¹

The Seven Federal Categories

Every federal agency uses the same minimum categories. Each one is defined by geographic ancestry, tracing back to the “original peoples” of a region rather than to skin color, language, or current nationality.

American Indian or Alaska Native. People with origins in any of the original peoples of North, Central, and South America. Examples include Navajo Nation, Blackfeet Tribe, and Native Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government.
Asian. People with origins in Central or East Asia, Southeast Asia, or South Asia. Examples include Chinese, Asian Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese.
Black or African American. People with origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa. Examples include African American, Jamaican, Haitian, Nigerian, Ethiopian, and Somali.
Hispanic or Latino. People of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, Cuban, Dominican, Guatemalan, and other Central or South American or Spanish culture or origin.
Middle Eastern or North African. People with origins in any of the original peoples of the Middle East or North Africa. Examples include Lebanese, Iranian, Egyptian, Syrian, Iraqi, and Israeli.
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. People with origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. Examples include Native Hawaiian, Samoan, Chamorro, Tongan, Fijian, and Marshallese.
White. People with origins in any of the original peoples of Europe. Examples include English, German, Irish, Italian, Polish, and Scottish.

The seven are treated as equal. Federal forms can no longer label some of them as “races” and others as “ethnicities,” which is how the older two-question system worked.²

You Can Select More Than One

The form is designed to let you check every category that applies. A single selection is a complete response, and multiple selections are equally valid. Someone with a Lebanese father and a Mexican mother could select both Middle Eastern or North African and Hispanic or Latino.¹

Self-identification is the rule. You decide which categories apply to you, and the revised directive requires agencies to collect this information through self-report wherever possible.¹

Beyond the seven, most federal data collections now also ask for more specific detail. Instead of only checking “Asian,” for instance, you may be asked to specify Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, or another group. That extra layer captures variation within the broad categories.²

What Changed in 2024

The March 2024 revision was the first update to federal racial categories in nearly three decades. Three changes matter most.³

Middle Eastern or North African Became Its Own Category

Under the old standards, people with origins in the Middle East or North Africa were classified as White. That never sat well with many people in those communities, and demographic researchers argued it obscured data about health outcomes, discrimination, and economic status. The revised standards make Middle Eastern or North African a standalone category. The White category now covers only people with European origins.¹

Race and Ethnicity Merged Into One Question

The old approach used two separate questions. First it asked whether you were Hispanic or Latino, treated as an ethnicity. Then it asked you to pick a race. Many Hispanic respondents saw their identity as a race and would skip the second question or choose “some other race.” The 2024 revision eliminates the split. All seven categories now appear together in a single combined question.²

Detailed Subcategories Are Now Expected

The new standards direct most federal data collections to gather subgroup detail alongside the seven top-level categories, rather than stopping at broad labels.²

When You’ll See the New Categories

Federal agencies have until March 28, 2029 to bring all record-keeping and reporting into full alignment with the revised standards. Agencies are expected to phase the changes in sooner where possible, especially when existing forms come up for renewal.¹

The most visible rollout will be the 2030 Census. The Census Bureau has confirmed it is preparing to use the updated categories, including the combined question format and the new Middle Eastern or North African category. Agencies including the EEOC were required to submit adoption plans by March 28, 2026.²

Some forms still use the old five-race-plus-ethnicity format. If you encounter one, it hasn’t been updated yet. The categories you select on those older forms still carry the same legal weight.

American Indian or Alaska Native Does Not Require Tribal Enrollment

Checking American Indian or Alaska Native on a federal form is a self-identification of ancestry. It is not a claim of tribal membership, and it does not require enrollment in any tribe. Tribal enrollment is a separate legal process, and each tribe sets its own membership criteria under its own constitution. A person can identify as American Indian or Alaska Native on a Census form without being enrolled anywhere.⁴

Why the Government Uses These Categories

The practical reason is civil rights enforcement. Without consistent demographic data, patterns of discrimination in hiring, lending, housing, and government services are difficult to detect. If every agency used different labels, comparing data across programs would be impossible. The standardized categories give regulators a common measuring stick.

The categories also drive resource allocation. Federal funding formulas for health programs, education grants, and community development often use demographic data to direct money where it’s most needed. The seven groupings aren’t meant to capture every dimension of identity, and the government acknowledges they are imperfect. They exist because tracking outcomes across broad population groups remains one of the few ways to hold institutions accountable for equitable treatment.

1
Federal Register. Revisions to OMBs Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity
2
U.S. Census Bureau. Updates to Race/Ethnicity Standards for Our Nation
3
U.S. Department of Education. Statistical Policy Directive 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity
4
U.S. Department of the Interior. Tribal Enrollment Process