Philly’s Latino population is the city’s fastest-growing demographic

Edgar Ramirez had plans to return to his home country of Mexico years ago, but Philadelphia’s “small-town” feeling led him to stay.

Originally a New York City resident after emigrating from Oaxaca, Mexico, Ramirez, who lives in South Philadelphia, said he fell in love with the city while visiting his brother, who was already here.

Now a Philadelphia resident of 17 years, Ramirez is part of the growing Latino population that is transforming Philadelphia as the city’s fastest-growing demographic.

The Latino community in Philadelphia has almost doubled since the start of the century, attracted to the city’s relatively affordable housing, work opportunities, and cultural connections.

While Latinos make up only about 16% of Philadelphia’s population, their total number has risen from 129,000 residents in 2000 to 244,000 last year, offsetting population decline among white and Black Philadelphians, according to census data. While Philly experienced about a decade of population growth starting in the mid-aughts, the number of residents has been declining slightly since 2020, falling to 1.55 million in 2023.

The Latino community growth in Philadelphia is driven by a combination of people born in the United States, in U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico, and abroad, predominantly from Mexico and the Dominican Republic. About 42% of Philly’s Latino population was born in another country or U.S. territories, according to 2022 American Community Survey data. But historically, Latinos have been undercounted in the U.S. Census Bureau data, which includes foreign-born residents regardless of legal status.

Moving to a more affordable city was crucial to having a better life for Yocasta Lora, 44.

Lora arrived in New York City from the Dominican Republic in 2000 before moving to Northeast Philadelphia, where she now lives with her husband and kids. She said she was in search of a better-paying job that didn’t require her to speak English or have a college degree, while also allowing her to attend college.

“For a lot of immigrants, that’s how we are,” Lora said. “We want to have a roof over our head. We want to have food on our table. You’re going to have to be strategic and [decide] what is the next move?”

For Isaha Polanco, 32, and his wife Nohemi, 32, stability was important, even if it meant leaving a career back home. The two married in 2020, when Isaha was still living in the Dominican Republic while Nohemi, who is also from the island, had been living in the United States since 2002. Isaha, now a member of the community group Dominicans of Delaware Valley, moved to Delaware County in 2021 to “start over” working in the medical field to be with his wife, who had a stable career as a product manager.

The two welcomed their first daughter in February.

Some immigrants, such as Ramirez, say they look for a home away from home and are drawn to places where their relatives have already settled.

“This notion that friends and family talk to their network, it becomes a chain,” said Jennifer Rodriguez, president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce said. “A family member finds a job, finds a house, and reports to their other family and friends.”

Immigrants from South and Central America live predominantly in Northeast and Southwest Philadelphia, mainly for affordable housing and already established communities, said Thomas Ginsberg, a senior officer at the Pew Charitable Trusts. South Americans, mostly from Brazil and Colombia, are largely concentrated in the Far Northeast and parts of Center City. Immigrants from Mexico and Guatemala move to South Philadelphia and parts of the Northeast.

Rodriguez underlined the value that immigrants bring to the city. “In terms of the labor that the immigrant community provides, in terms of the leadership that the immigrant community provides, how hard they work. What attracts people to come to Philadelphia and enjoy it is fueled by immigrants,” she said.

Leaving New York City was still a sacrifice for Lora, however. She said she was surrounded by a larger Dominican community, including her family, in New York. But in the last two decades, she’s noticed the Dominican population grow in Philadelphia and in the suburbs, contributing to the broader expansion of Latino residents over the years.

Latino growth contrasts with a decline in white and, more recently, Black residents in Philadelphia. Today Philadelphia has 119,000 fewer white residents and 37,000 fewer Black residents compared with 2000.

The expansion of the Latino population has been buoyed by Dominicans. Between 2018 and 2022, about 22,800 people reported being from the Dominican Republic, which is the second-highest country of origin among foreign-born residents in Philly, according to a recent Pew report.

This trend is apparent in the number of Dominican-owned businesses emerging, such as restaurants, corner stores, supermarkets, laundromats, and hair salons. The Dominican community owns an estimated 2,500 bodegas in Philadelphia, said Frank Rosario, director of community outreach at the Dominican Grocers Association.

“Now you can find something as simple as a hair dresser,” Lora said. “Back in the day, 20 years ago, it was not as easy to find and navigate.”

Dominicans are slowly being represented in local politics, as well. State Rep. Danilo Burgos, who was born in New York, is the first Dominican elected to serve in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

“That’s opening the door for other Dominicans to get empowered for this type of leadership,” Lora said.

In South Philadelphia, the growing Latino presence is evident. In April, a banner was hung across the 1100 block of South Ninth Street, greeting Philadelphians in Spanish.

Mexican immigrants have helped revitalize the area, Ramirez said, by opening up businesses in spots that were once abandoned.

But, Ramirez said he thinks the growth will slow down in the next few years as many begin to migrate to the suburbs. In addition, until Latinos have significant political presence in Philadelphia, many community members will continued to feel ignored, he said.

“That’s a huge downfall for us because people don’t understand how politics work and that affects how they vote and whether or not they vote,” Ramirez said in Spanish.

Lora, whose kids are Mexican and Dominican, said she is grateful that they are able to grow up connected to their cultures.

“I’m really proud to see how the Dominican community is contributing to the growth of the economy and is contributing to the diversification and the vibrancy of Philadelphia,” Lora said. “I‘m really proud to live in Philadelphia and that the United States took me as their daughter.”