In summary, the main purpose of our investigation was to assess difference in outcomes (OS and 30/90 day mortality), presentation, and treatment in nine different ethnic groups who underwent surgical resection of NSCLC. As a secondary aim, we also wanted to assess whether tumor biology (nodal involvement) varied by ethnicity. Even in the analyses that were not adjusted for treatment, histopathologic, patient, and marital factors; Blacks and Hispanics had the same OS and LCSS as the White group. We did not find disparities due to ethnicity in patients undergoing surgical resection for NSCLC, but noted that the disparities may be due to having Medicaid insurance and not being married. Because having Medicaid insurance and not being married were associated with lower OS, LCSS and 90-day OS as well as nodal positivity, we feel that economic and psychosocial variables may play a role in the biological aggressiveness of early-stage lung cancer patients undergoing resection in addition to standard histopathologic and treatment variables. Although marriage was equally as important as socioeconomic factors in our assessment, a study from an earlier time period (1989–2003) suggested that lower socioeconomic status was an independent prognostic factor, but marriage was note (32). However, this past investigation by Ou et al. also noted that race was not a prognostic factor in multivariate modeling.