Latinos in Boston, Massachusetts

Authors

Charles Jones, University of Massachusetts Boston

Document Type

Research Report

Publication Date

1-2003

Abstract

Census 2000 data include changes in the way people were counted. The most significant change is to allow persons to select more than one race, creating a new multiracial category of “two or more races,” but meaning people may not be included in the race with which they most identify. There was, however, no way to choose more than one ethnicity; one must choose either Latino or not. Throughout this profile, numbers reflect Latinos of all races, or non-Latinos by race, with persons of two or more races counted separately. All categorizations are based solely on self-identification. All of this complicates comparisons between 1990 and 2000 data. However, the concepts are similar enough to make trends and patterns clear.

In Boston, the general population changes from 1990 to 2000 were similar to state and national trends. The population of most people of color — African Americans, Asians, Latinos, and Pacific Islanders — grew at a higher rate than did the population of non-Hispanic Whites, which actually shrank. The total population of Boston increased by 2.6%, but its composition changed substantially. Latinos had a larger numerical growth than any other group, increasing by 23,134 or 37.3%, although both Asians and “some other race” had a higher percent increase. Latinos now represent 14.4% of the population, an increase of 3.7 percentage points and the largest gain of any group. Non-Hispanic Whites are no longer the majority of Bostonians. Boston has the largest population of Latinos in Massachusetts and in the New England states. As a percentage of the total population, the Latino population in Boston ranks 10th in the state.

Comments

Part of a series of profiles of Latinos in New England, by the Gaston Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Recommended Citation

Jones, Charles, "Latinos in Boston, Massachusetts" (2003). Gastón Institute Publications. 76.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/gaston_pubs/76