The son of Dominican immigrants, Secretary Perez was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. Public service was the family business. Perez's maternal grandfather was the ambassador to the United States from the Dominican Republic in the 1930s, until he spoke out against his home country's brutal dictator and was declared non grata. Perez's father, a physician, served in the U.S. Army and worked for many years at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Buffalo.
A graduate of Brown University and Harvard University, Perez has taught law and public health at universities in Maryland and the District of Columbia. He lives in Maryland with his wife, Ann Marie Staudenmaier, and their three children. An avid runner and athlete, he coaches his children's basketball and baseball teams. He credits his unrelenting optimism to being a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan.
