Massachusetts increased by six percent, or 333,000 people, between 1990 and 2000.

Massachusetts’s foreign-born population increased 35 percent during the 1990s. Between 1990 and 2000, Massachusetts gained 199,000 immigrants.

Foreign-Born Population 

Massachusetts’s foreign-born population increased by 21.4 percent between 2000 and 2006. During that period Massachusetts gained over 165,000 immigrants, bringing the total number of foreign-born residents in the state to over 938,000.

Environmental and Quality of Life Profile

Water:

Between 2000 and 2006, Massachusetts’ foreign-born population increased by 17.5 percent.^4/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.^5/By 2050 the state’s population is expected to rise from 6.4 million in 2006 to over 11.1 million.^6/Massachusetts has a daily, per-capita water demand of 139.5 gallons.^7/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). 8/, 9/  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. 10/

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.11/  Travelers in the Providence, MA-Rhode Island area experience an annual delay of 33 hours. 12/  19 percent of commuters in Massachusetts have a commute that is 45 minutes or more. 13/

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.14/

Disappearing open space: Each year, Massachusetts loses 42,400 acres of open space and farmland due to development.15/ 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.16/

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.17/

Crowded housing: In 2005 over 37,000 Massachusetts households were defined as crowded or severely crowded by housing authorities.18/ Studies show that a rise in crowded housing often correlates with an increase in the number of foreign-born.19/, 20/

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.21/

Education: Between 1990 and 2000, Massachusetts’s elementary and high school enrollment increased 20 percent.22/ “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 1999.23/

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 1995.24/

In Holden, some high school students are bused to another school for study hall to ease the high school enrollment crunch.25/

Solid Waste: Massachusetts generates 1.29 tons of solid waste per capita. 26/

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. 27/

Endnotes:

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