Pursuing financial opportunities increasingly means moving away from the comfort of a familiar community and braving it elsewhere for Latino Americans.

Latino professionals are increasingly moving away from areas where they enjoy a large Hispanic community to areas traditionally with a majority White population.

Maine and Vermont, which rank among the highest of states with majority White populations, both have less than 5 percent of Hispanic residents, combined. But they saw an increase of six percent in their Hispanic populations in the past decade, NBC reported, citing the U.S. Census.

"I can count the number of Latinos in this state in one hand, and most work in my restaurant," Nery Diaz told NBC. "But it's worth the sacrifice," he added. "There are more financial opportunities here for me and my family.

Diaz, a Honduran, recently moved from the Washington, D.C. area to Maine to help open up a Mexican restaurant.

This can sometimes mean being faced with acute culture shock, and being treated differently.

One women moved from a city in New Jersey that has a 95 percent Latino population to Ohio for a job, before finally moving to Dallas without a job.

Joan Zelaya told NBC she decided on Dallas because it had a decent Hispanic population.

"You can't escape that otherness when you are the only Latina or woman of color in the office or in the supermarket," she said. "It wasn't that I experienced overt racism in Athens, [but instead more] micro aggressive moments."

But living in Ohio taught Zelaya to develop an appreciation of suburban life, which is quieter and less busy than where she came form.

"I went from listening to merengue, salsa, and other Latin music blasting from cars, and stores, to crickets," she said. "A lot of people asked me about my curly hair and even asked to touch it. I never thought it was my responsibility to teach white people and others about Latino heritage but now I use those incidents as teachable moments -- moments to connect."