Census Bureau: Over 15% of Philadelphia’s Population Is Foreign-Born; Dominicans are on Track to Become Philadelphia’s Largest Immigrant Group and 3 Other Takeaways from a New Pew Report

Census Bureau: Over 15% of Philadelphia’s Population Is Foreign-Born:

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. —>READ MORE HERE

Dominicans are on track to become Philadelphia’s largest immigrant group and 3 other takeaways from a new Pew report

Philadelphia’s U.S.-born population has been shrinking for decades but immigration has helped soften that blow.

This won’t exactly be news to hard-core population nerds. The U.S. Census Bureau has highlighted this dynamic in almost every population data release of recent years. In 2022, 15.7% of the city’s more than 1.5 million residents reported being born outside the United States, the highest share in eight decades.

Still, a report published by the Pew Charitable Trusts Thursday uses census data to dive into the rhythms and trends seen among the city’s immigrant populations.

Not all corners of the city are affected by influxes in immigration to the same degree, said Thomas Ginsberg, a senior officer at Pew who coauthored the report with Maridarlyn Gonzalez. But as someone who subscribes to the idea that “demography is destiny,” Ginsberg thinks it’s important to study trends to try and see what Philadelphia could look like long-term.

“The demographic makeup of a city is who we are, it’s the face of the city, it shapes our culture, it shapes our cuisine, it shapes the way we interact with each other, the languages we use,” he said.

Here are four takeaways from the report.

Philly’s Latino population is becoming more diverse

It’s 2000. Allen Iverson is a Sixer, low-rise jeans are peak fashion, and 85% of Philadelphia’s population identifies as white or Black.

Some 130,000 people identify as Latino in Philadelphia. Notably, about 71% of those Latinos were Puerto Rican and 13% were foreign-born.

Fast forward 22 years and white and Black residents make up 72% of Philadelphians.

The Latino population almost doubled, exceeding 252,000 people — and the makeup looked drastically different. Puerto Ricans only accounted for 55% of the population and 22% of Latinos reported being foreign-born. Newcomers born in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Guatemala, and Colombia led the surge in those years. —>READ MORE HERE

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