Philadelphia’s population has been shrinking for years, but one segment has been soaring, and the latest numbers show that immigrants from the Dominican Republic have become one of the city’s largest demographics.
In 2024, the Census Bureau reported that Philly had lost another 3.3 percent of its total population in 2023, leaving the total population at about 1,550,542, according to the Associated Press.
The numbers in 2023 marked the third year in a row that Philly lost around three percent. The decline has been slow but steady since the 1970s, the Philadelphia Inquirer added.
One metric of growth has been foreign-born people moving into the city, though. However, even 7,000 foreign-born newbies was not enough growth to offset the 27,000 residents who moved out of the city, the paper added. All this means that the city’s total population dropped from 1.6 million in 2020 to 1.5 million in 2024.
The breakdown, according to Data USA, leaves Philly with 621,000 black residents (39 percent of the population), 534,000 white residents (33.5 percent), and 126,000 Hispanic residents (7.93 percent) — with 229,000 of the total residents being foreign-born (15.7 percent). Additionally, there are 99,082 residents from India and 69,880 residents from China.
However, one segment of the population seems to be growing in both numbers and influence. There are 90,229 residents from the Dominican Republic, which has added to the growing number of Hispanic residents, hiking the number to 15.7 percent of the total population.
According to an analysis from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the city’s Latino population is beginning to swing as the majority of Puerto Rican residents dwindle as others, including Dominicans, rise.
Pew says that at a population of 22,800 Dominicans will soon become the city’s largest single place of origin for residents, outstripping China, which is currently sitting at 244,400.
The trend, Pew finds, is sending foreign-born residents into increased prominence even as the number of natural-born American residents dwindles. In fact, at 1.32 million in 2022, natural-born American residents in Philly have not been so few since 1910.
Philadelphia is run by pro-migration Democrats, and the local birth rate has shrunk by roughly ten percent over the last 14 years. Since 2021, President Joe Biden’s migrants have further hurt couples by nudging down local wages and pushing up housing costs by almost 20 percent.
Despite the growth in foreign-born residents, it seems likely that Philly will lose its spot as the sixth-largest city in America very soon. Currently, fewer than 30,000 residents keep San Antonio, Texas, seated as the nation’s seventh-largest city. But with Philly losing numbers annually and Texas still experiencing huge growth, it will not be long before San Antonio overtakes Philly to claim the sixth spot on the list.
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