Long Range Plan, 2003-2007 : Massachusetts - A Statistical Overview 

Although the Census data on the foreign-born will not be released until 2002, supplemental survey estimates the foreign-born population at 763,513. This is 12.5 percent of the state's overall population and an increase of 33.1 percent above the 1990 population of 573,733 foreign-born residents. This increase in the state's foreign-born population from 1990 accounted for 65.3 percent of the state's overall population increase over the same period.

Since 1990 there has been a marked increase in the Asian and Hispanic population in the Commonwealth. Nationally, those two groups account for over two-thirds of all immigrants. The Asian population increased by 67.8 percent and the Hispanic population increased by 49.1 percent. The increase in those two population segments accounted for over two thirds (71.7 percent) of the state's population increase. Another indicator of the change in the immigrant population is data on the share of the population that speaks a language other than English at home. Between 1990 and 2000 the share of non English speakers at home in Massachusetts increased by over two-fifths, from 15.2 percent to 18.6 percent.

Between the 1980 and 1990 Censuses, the population of Massachusetts grew by 4.8 percent. However, the state's foreign born population grew by 14.5 percent during that same period and accounted for 26.6 percent of the overall population growth. Massachusetts now has the 7th largest population of foreign born in the country. Two-fifths (40. 1 %) of the foreign born in 1990 had entered since 1980.

According to a report published in January, 2000 by the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth and Citizens Bank, by 1990 only 37 percent of Massachusetts' immigrant population had roots in Europe, contrasting with immigration before 1970, when nearly 80 percent of foreign-born residents were from Europe and Canada.

Information from the following table was provided by Office of Refugee and Immigrant Health in the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Their website is located at http://www.mass.gov/dph/omh/omh.htm.

New immigrants who live in central cities and suburban developments have helped to offset the regional population loss and contribute to the workforce. The newcomer immigration has actually kept the state's population from shrinking. Of all the children in Massachusetts under 18, approximately one in four is either an immigrant or the child of an immigrant parent. This report clearly shows, the face of Massachusetts is changing.

These newcomers are more economically diverse than previous groups of foreign-born. Many are helping support the manufacturing sector while others are participating in highly skilled jobs centered around many of Massachusetts' universities and high tech industries. Newcomers with little or no education are more likely to be employed in the labor force in service industries. These newcomers face challenges and clearly need opportunities to learn and practice English. Their participation is vital to the workforce and they provide important support to many economic sectors upon which Massachusetts depends.