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Massachusetts

 

Summary Demographic State Data (and Source)
Population (2009 CB est.): 6,593,587
Population (2000 Census): 6,349,097
Foreign-Born Population (2009 CB est.): 943,335
Foreign-Born Population (2000 Census): 772,983
Share Foreign-Born (2009.): 14.3%
Share Foreign-Born (2000): 12.2%
Naturalized U.S. Citizens (2009 CB est.): 461,113
Share Naturalized (2009): 48.9%
Legal Immigrant Admission (DHS 2000-2009): 295,250
Refugee Admission (HHS 2000-2009): 15,755
Illegal Alien Population (2010 FAIR est.): 190,000
Costs of Illegal Aliens (2010 FAIR): $1,862,200,000
Projected 2050 Population - (2006 FAIR) 11,111,000

 

Massachusetts: Census Bureau Data

STATE POPULATION

Using the American Community Survey (ACS), the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that in July 2009 Massachusetts’s population had increased to 6,593,587 residents, i.e., an annual average increase of about 26,290 residents since 2000. That is a rate of increase of about 0.4 percent per year. The comparable national annual rate of increase was also 1.0 percent.

 

Massachusetts Population 1900-2008

The 2000 Census found 6,349,097 persons resident in Massachusetts. This was an annual average increase of 33,267 persons above the 1990 Census. The annual average increase of 0.4 percent was lower than the national annual average of 1.2 percent population increase.

The 2000 population was about 400,000 more persons than the Census Bureau had expected to find in the state in 2000 when it issued its state population projections in 1996. The significance of this is that the Census Bureau has concluded that much of the shortfall in their population estimates during the 1990s was due to an underestimation of the illegal alien population.

Between the 1980 and 1990 Censuses, the population of Massachusetts grew by 4.8 percent (from 5,737,093 to 6,016,425). That was an annual rate of increase of 0.5 percent. The national rate of change was 1.0 percent.

 

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION

Based on the ACS, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the foreign-born population of Massachusetts was 943,335 persons in 2009.

NET INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION (NIM)

Based on the Current Population Survey (CPS), the Census Bureau estimated that between the 2000 Census and July 2009 the state’s population increased by about 245,145 residents from net international migration (more foreign-born arriving than leaving). That was an annual average increase of about 26,360 residents, i.e., most (90%) of the state’s total increase, and that is not including the children born to the immigrants after their arrival in the United States.

Massachusetts Sources of Population Change 1990-99

 

Massachusetts Sources of Population Change 2000-09

 

FOREIGN-BORN CHANGE

The amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 18,315 people, which is, again, more than the two-thirds of the state’s total (69.7%) annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 22 percent compared to a 1.3 percent increase in the native-born population.

Immigration also contributes to population growth through the children born to immigrants in this country. Nationally the share of births to the foreign-born is about double their share of the population. A 28.6 percent share of the state’s current births is large enough to account for about 22,445 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for nearly 40,760 persons added to the state’s population annually, i.e., much more than the total (155%) of the state’s overall population increase.

The 2000 Census found that 40.4 percent of Massachusetts' foreign-born population had arrived in the state since 1990. This demonstrates the effects of the current mass immigration, although it is slightly lower than the national average (43.7%). In the 2009 CPS estimate, nearly one-fourth (24.4%) had arrived since 2000. That is lower than the less than one-third (31.6%) share of new arrivals nationally.

 

FOREIGN-BORN CHARACTERISTICS

An indicator of the change in the immigrant population may be seen in 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. More than two-fifths (41.2%) of those who said they spoke a language other than English at home in 2000 also said they spoke English less than very well. In the 2009 ACS, the share had increased to 20.6 percent. Spanish speakers were 35 percent of those who spoke other than English at home, and 38 percent of those who spoke English less than very well

Speakers of Foreign Languages
(at home in Massachusetts in the 2000 Census)
Spanish 370,010
Portuguese 159,745
French 84,040
Italian 59,810
Chinese 56,850
French Creole 43,520
Russian 32,580
Vietnamese 30,400
Greek 28,820
Polish 27,630
(Source: Census Bureau report: Language Spoken at Home for the Population 5 Years and Over, April 2004)

The chart above shows the foreign-born population increasing by 22 percent since 2000 and the share of that population from Latin America and the Caribbean increasing by 41.7 percent. That region’s share of the state’s immigrant population grew from 30 percent to 34.8 percent in 2009.

NATURALIZATION

Data from the 2009 ACS indicate that 461,113 residents, or 48.9 percent, of the foreign-born population in Massachusetts were U.S. citizens, compared to 337,617 residents, or 43.7 percent, in 2000.

Nationally, 40.3 percent of the foreign-born were U.S. citizens in 2000, and 43.7 percent in 2009.

Population Projections

We projected Massachusetts’ population in 2050 likely would be between x.xx million and x.x million depending on what happens with immigration policy. See “Projecting the U.S. Population to 2050: Four Immigration Scenarios,” FAIR 2006.

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Massachusetts: Extended Data

 

REFUGEES

Massachusetts received 15,755 refugees over the most recent ten fiscal years (FY'00-'09).

 

 

LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY STUDENTS

In xxxx overall enrollment in 2008 (962,958) was 0.1 percent below enrollment in 1999. LEP enrollment was 9.2 percent higher than a decade earlier.

FOREIGN STUDENTS

The 2009/2010 annual report of the Institute of International Education (IIE) lists the number of foreign students attending post-secondary school in Massachusetts as 35,313. Five schools in the state are listed as having a major concentration of these students:

  • Boston U. – 5,172.
  • Harvard U. – 4,867
  • Northeastern U. – 3,898
  • MIT – 3,486
  • U. Mass.-Amherst – 1,718

Other schools in the state with large foreign student enrollments are: Suffolk U.- 978, Babson Col, - 853, Bentley U, - 904, Bunker Hill CC.- 693, Quincy Col., and Mt. Holyoke 511.

Those schools represented two-thirds (66.8%) of the total foreign students in the state.

For information on foreign student issues see: Foreign Students in the United States

 

ILLEGAL ALIENS

FAIR Estimate - FAIR estimates the state’s illegal alien population as of 2010 is as many as 190,000 persons. This is part of an overall estimate of the U.S. illegal alien population of about 12 million persons.

INS/DHS Estimate - The INS (now dissolved into the Dept. of Homeland Security) estimated that the illegal population in Massachusetts was 87,000 as of January 2000. This number was 20,000 higher than the INS' 1996 estimate.

Other Estimates - The Pew Hispanic Center estimates the illegal alien population of the state at 160,000 as of 2010.

COSTS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

FAIR’s 2010 fiscal cost study, “The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on United States Taxpayers” estimated the following cost outlays and tax receipts:

Massachusetts Fiscal Costs In 2009
     Due to Illegal Aliens ($M)       (Pct.)
K-12 educ. $839.3    45.1%
LEP educ. $168.8 9.1%
Medicaid $144.0 7.7%
SCHIP $71.1 3.8%
Justice $152.1 8.2%
Welfare+ $174.5 9.4%
General $312.4 16.8%
Total $1,862.2  
Tax Receipts $66.0  
Net Cost $1796.2  

Source: “The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on United States Taxpayers,” FAIR 2010.

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Massachusetts: Immigrant Admissions

Massachusetts Immigrant Admissions
by Fiscal Year
2000 23,483
2001 28,965
2002 31,615
2003 20,184
2004 27,676
2005 34,236
2006 35,560
2007 30,555
2008 30,369
2009 32,607
Total 295,250

Recent immigrant admissions are at 196 percent of admissions just after adoption of the current immigration system in 1965. During the 1965-'69 period, annual admissions averaged about 16,640 immigrants. During the most recent five years, admissions averaged about 32,665 persons.

The charts below show recent immigrant admissions and the cumulative immigrant admissions data since 1965. The number of annual admissions has ranged from 11,445 in FY'65 to 35,560 in FY’06. The cumulative total of admissions to Massachusetts between fiscal years 1965 and 2009 was about 848,565 immigrants.

 

 

INS DATA BY NATIONALITY: FY'93 - FY'02

The INS data below are furnished for nationals of the countries with the largest number of immigrants admitted or adjusted to legal residence each year since 1993. The absence of data means that the total number of admissions to the United States by nationals of that country was not enough to merit detailed reporting in that year.

The nationalities may change each year, so the totals in some cases will not reflect all the immigrants of that nationality who have become legal immigrants in Wyoming during this period.

The Department of Homeland Security website has detailed data on immigrant admissions since FY’03 by year and by country. (See http://www.dhs.gov/ximgtn/statistics/data/dslpr.shtm).

Immigrant Admissions by Fiscal Year
Country FY'93 FY'94 FY'95 FY'96 FY'97 FY'98 FY'99 FY'00 FY'01 FY'02 Total
Bangladesh - - - 113 86 75 87 97 - 94 552
Canada 426 490 395 386 303 284 262 494 704 652 4,396
China * 3,583 2,378 1,711 1,860 1,530 1,707 1,484 2,407 2,632 3,183 22,475
Colombia 263 236 273 350 271 273 196 346 415 587 3,210
Cuba 51 38 54 64 48 40 48 87 92 92 614
Dom. Rep. 2,233 2,581 1,970 2,051 1,285 1,138 920 1,180 1,538 2,011 16,907
Ecuador 59 - 57 103 45 62 106 104 115 177 828
El Salvador 332 247 179 313 220 188 210 290 990 866 3,835
Germany 184 166 161 - 148 159 256 364 314 314 2,066
Guatemala 232 171 169 271 198 178 184 263 518 531 2,715
Guyana 42 66 77 70 43 17 12 39 - 81 447
Haiti 795 951 1,287 1,408 1,123 1,046 1,259 1,943 1,822 1,913 13,566
Honduras 187 - - - 156 114 123 164 - 175 919
India 907 805 873 1,075 856 958 773 1,227 2,332 2,323 12,129
Iran 195 198 155 259 169 158 116 182 158 161 1,751
Ireland 2,152 2,935 - - 121 101 92 174 - 209 5,784
Jamaica 450 319 437 497 331 340 267 361 354 402 3,758
Japan - 100 - - 101 112 82 218 230 231 1,074
Korea 179 194 221 214 197 201 234 234 315 308 2,297
Mexico 99 86 89 141 70 105 114 193 227 284 1,408
Nicaragua - - - - 14 13 37 79 69 64 276
Nigeria - - 195 275 207 202 201 219 - 309 1,608
Pakistan 134 102 150 187 169 225 199 255 269 249 1,939
Peru 146 89 113 158 111 130 109 119 175 205 1,355
Philippines 425 259 229 288 214 179 166 267 313 441 2,781
Poland 682 672 400 390 300 226 192 345 315 380 3,902
Sov. Un. * 2,691 2,438 2,253 1,613 1,321 1,040 1,061 1,745 1,566 2,505 18,233
Trin.& Tob. - 141 - - 142 172 110 218 - 202 985
United Kingdom 810 722 529 518 331 335 288 613 720 790 5,656
Vietnam 1,915 1,366 1,247 1,452 976 443 605 902 1,405 1,471 11,782
Yugo. * - - 215 269 266 90 148 385 471 836 2,680
Other 5,839 5,132 7,084 8,760 5,965 5,540 5,239 7,969 10,906 9,568 72,002
Total 25,011 22,882 20,523 23,085 17,317 15,869 15,180 23,483 28,965 31,615 223,930

A dash (-) indicates that the data for that year were not published for that country in the INS Statistical Yearbook.
* China data include Hong Kong and Taiwan. Former USSR data continued since break-up (except FY'96-'97 and ‘01 include only Russia and Ukraine). Former Yugoslavia data continued since break-up.

The 31 nationalities above represent more than two-thirds (67.8%) of all immigrant settlement and adjustment in Massachusetts during this ten-year period. The countries that supplied the greatest number of Massachusetts' new immigrants during the period were China, former Soviet Union, Dominican Republic, Haiti, India and Vietnam. Taken together, immigrants from those countries account for more than two-fifths (42.5%) of total admissions.

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Massachusetts : Poll Data

 

Rasmussen Poll: Arizona Law SB 1070
July 2010

Suppose the new Arizona immigration law was being considered for your state. Would you favor or oppose passage of that law in your state?

The U.S. Justice Department has decided to challenge the legality of Arizona’s new immigration law in federal court. Do you agree or disagree with the decision to challenge the legality of Arizona’s new immigration law?

 

 

A Suffolk University / 7NEWS poll conducted of 500 registered voters in Massachusetts on December 5th found:

  • 84% percent of Massachusetts voters believe that applicants for state benefits should produce proof of citizenship or legal residency. Only 12% were opposed to this policy.
  • 63% percent believe that "everyone in America should be required to produce documents proving that they are here in the U.S. legally," while 30% disagree.

A Rasmussen Report poll conducted of 500 likely voters in Massachusetts on December 5th found:

  • 71% oppose granting drivers’ licenses to illegal aliens.
  • 62% say that when police officers pull someone over for a traffic violation, they should routinely check to see if that person is in the country legally.
  • 43% believe that if illegal immigrants are discovered in this manner, they should be deported

Boston Globe/WBZ Poll, MA Gubernatorial Election Poll, September, 2006

  • 63% of likely voters oppose issuing drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants.
  • 59% of likely voters oppose allowing illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition. (Boston Globe/WBZ Poll, MA Gubernatorial Election Poll, September, 2006)

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Massachusetts: Immigration Impact

 

Environmental and Quality of Life Profile

Water: Between 2000 and 2006, Massachusetts' foreign-born population increased by 17.5 percent.1 That compares with a 0.8 percent decrease in the native-born population and that includes the children born to immigrants. When the U.S-born children of immigrants are included, immigration accounts for all of the state's overall growth during that time.2 By 2050 the state's population is expected to rise from 6.4 million in 2006 to over 11.1 million.3 Massachusetts has a daily, per-capita water demand of 139.5 gallons.4 This means that by 2050 public water usage will have increased by 655.7 million gallons each day

Traffic: As population growth put more traffic on the roads, the average commute for Massachusetts residents increased 19 percent during the 1990s, from 23 minutes to 27 minutes in 2000 (versus a national average of 14 percent). 5,6 31 percent of Massachusetts's major urban roads are congested. 71 percent of Massachusetts's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition and vehicle travel on Massachusetts' highways increased 16% from 1990 to 2003. 7

Driving on roads in need of repair costs Massachusetts motorists $2.3 billion a year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs — $501 per motorist. Congestion in the Boston metropolitan area costs commuters $958 per person per year in excess fuel and lost time, and congestion in the Springfield area costs commuters $163 per person per year in excess fuel and lost time.8 Travelers in the Providence, MA-Rhode Island area experience an annual delay of 33 hours. 9 19 percent of commuters in Massachusetts have a commute that is 45 minutes or more. 10

Boston is already the country's seventh most congested city, and traffic continues to worsen. Congestion costs each Boston motorist three days and $1,255 each year. Rush hour lasts for four hours every morning and every evening, costing the average commuter 107 gallons of wasted gas every year.11

Disappearing open space: Each year, Massachusetts loses 42,400 acres of open space and farmland due to development.12 In 1970, just 22 percent of the land in the 43 communities in the I-495 area was developed, but by 1999, 60 percent of the area's land had been developed.13

A study of urban sprawl between 1970 and 1990 that calculated the impact of population increase and per capita land use found that 226.8 square miles of additional land were consumed by urban sprawl in the Boston metropolitan area, and 15.4 percent of that sprawl was attributable to population increase. In the Worchester, MA - Connecticut metro areas sprawl consumed an additional 54.3 square miles and population increase accounted for 49 percent of the increase.14

Crowded housing: In 2005 over 37,000 Massachusetts households were defined as crowded or severely crowded by housing authorities.15 Studies show that a rise in crowded housing often correlates with an increase in the number of foreign-born.16,17

Poverty: In 2005 13.9 percent of immigrants in Massachusetts had incomes below the poverty level, a 15.1 increase since 2000. Among non-citizens, the rate climbs to 17 percent.18

Education: Between 1990 and 2000, Massachusetts's elementary and high school enrollment increased 20 percent.19 "The thing that's been impacted the most by the increase in population is our school system, which is now overcrowded," said James Nihan, clerk of Bridgewater's Board of Selectmen. Bridgewater is trying to raise $76 million to build an additional high school and is considering enlarging its middle and elementary schools to accommodate the rising student population—despite having just built a new elementary school in 1999.20

In Westborough, where the population increased 27 percent in the 1990s, school enrollment rose by 59 percent in the last ten years and is expected to increase 83 percent more in the next decade. More students has meant higher taxes; the average single-family property tax bill has increased 31 percent since 1995.21

In Holden, some high school students are bused to another school for study hall to ease the high school enrollment crunch.22

Solid Waste: Massachusetts generates 1.29 tons of solid waste per capita. 23

Air Qaulity: 9 of Massachusetts's 14 counties received a grade of "F" from the American Lung Association in their "State of the Air 2005" report. 24

Endnotes:

  1. U.S. Census Bureau 2006.
  2. Jack Martin. "Issue Brief: Estimation of Foreign Born Birthrate." FAIR. 2008.
  3. Jack Martin and Stanley Fogel. "Projecting the U.S. Population to 2050." FAIR. March 2006.
  4. U.S. Geological Survey 2000
  5. "Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000," Census 2000, U.S. Census Bureau.
  6. "Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 1990," 1990 Census, U.S. Census Bureau.
  7. Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers.
  8. Ibid
  9. "The 2005 Urban Mobility Report", Texas Transportation Institute.
  10. "U.S. Population 2007 Data Sheet," Population Reference Bureau.
  11. Karen E. Crummy, "Time for a Tailgate Party: Gridlocked Hub Makes Top 10," Boston Herald, June 21, 2002.
  12. "State Rankings by Acreage and Rate of Non-federal Land Developed," Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
  13. John J. Monahan, "Growth Could Outpace Stat's Water Resources," Worcester Telegram & Gazette, October 13, 2002.
  14. Beck, Roy and Leon Kolankiewicz, "Weighing Sprawl Factors in Large U.S. Cities," NumbersUSA, March 2001.
  15. Selected Housing Characteristics: 2005 Data Set - 2005 American Community Survey, American Fact Finder, U.S. Census Bureau.
  16. Haya El Nasser, "U.S. Neighborhoods Grow More Crowded," USA Today, July 7, 2002.
  17. Randy Capps, "Hardship Among Children of Immigrants: Findings from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families," Urban Institute, 2001.
  18. "Massachusetts State Factsheet," Migration Information Source, Migration Policy Institute.
  19. Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 1990 and 2000, Census 2000, U.S. Census Bureau.
  20. Teri Borseti, "Bridgewater's Growing, So Schools Must Too," Boston Globe, April 6, 2002.
  21. Teri Borseti, "Bridgewater's Growing, So Schools Must Too," Boston Globe, April 6, 2002.
  22. Peter Schworm, "Child Influx Packs Schools in Four Towns Surging Demand Means Higher Bills for Taxpayers," Boston Globe, June 30, 2002.
  23. Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers.
  24. "State of the Air 2005: Massachusetts", American Lung Association.

 

Other Resources  

State Local Reform Organizations

State Representatives Voting Record

 

Updated December 2011


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