From Puerto Rican families rooted in the state for generations to newer arrivals from across Latin America, Massachusetts is home to a growing number of residents with Latino or Hispanic origins — nearly 1 in 7 residents in 2024, just over 1 million people. That broad label encompasses communities with very different histories, and the mix has changed considerably over the past four decades.
For its special issue timed with Hispanic Heritage Month, Globe Magazine examined data from the census and Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. These charts and other data indicate a growing population with a shockingly low level of wealth but improving homeownership rates, and a younger Latino population that likely factors into the state’s future workforce.
Our look begins in 1980, when more Latinos started calling Massachusetts home. Our analysis includes people of Brazilian ancestry, whom the US Census Bureau does not typically classify as Hispanic, but whose roots come from the biggest Latin American country. (Greater Boston is home to the most Brazilian immigrants per capita in the United States.)
In 2024, Latino residents accounted for 14.5 percent of the state population, up from 2.5 percent in 1980. The Boston metro area followed a near identical trend, with Latinos comprising 13.5 percent of the metro area in 2024.
The increase has been steady, but the communities that make up that broad group have shifted over time as immigration patterns have changed.
Puerto Ricans remained the dominant group in 2024, accounting for 32 percent of the state’s Latino population. But that was down from 38 percent a decade earlier. Dominicans, meanwhile, accounted for 19 percent, up from 17 percent in 2014. Brazilians held steady at roughly 9 percent.
Deep Ties to the Caribbean
The prominence of Puerto Rican and Dominican communities reflects the state’s longstanding connections to the Caribbean. “Massachusetts has long had a really strong tie to the Caribbean,” says Peter Ciurczak, a senior research analyst at Boston Indicators. Once a group establishes a foothold, family networks make it easier for that community to grow, he adds.
Geography and distance help explain why residents of Mexican origin make up a smaller share of Massachusetts’ population than they do in the Southwest and elsewhere.
A Much Younger Population
Overall, Latinos in Massachusetts are far younger than white people and other racial groups. In 2024, roughly 30 percent of Latino residents were younger than 18, compared with just 16 percent of white residents.
The median age was 30 for Latino residents and 45 among white residents. The median age among Black and Asian residents was 35.
In a state with an aging workforce, analyst Peter Ciurczak says, younger Latinos and immigrants will become an increasingly important part of the state’s economy as older residents retire.
The Wealth Gap Remains Amid Population Growth
But the growing size and economic importance of Latinos in the Commonwealth hasn’t translated into family wealth. The median net wealth of a Hispanic family in Massachusetts last year was just $1,200, according to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. For white families, it was about $592,000.
The Latino population’s younger age, and the presence of many recent arrivals, explain a large part of the gap, since younger families and newcomers have had less time to buy homes and build wealth. There are some signs of that shifting. The Hispanic homeownership rate increased from 26 percent in 2014 to 33 percent in 2024, according to a Zillow analysis of census data.
Broader forces have compounded the problem over generations, Ciurczak says. White families have historically had greater access to homeownership and other opportunities to build intergenerational wealth, while discriminatory policies have excluded many Black and Hispanic families from those same opportunities.
There’s reason for encouragement: The share of Latino households classified as low income has fallen since 1990, Ciurczak says, and the share classified as middle or upper income has risen. Still, income gains don’t quickly erase the wealth gap. “It’s still such a long way to go,” he says.
More from the My Boston History issue:
Scooty Nickerson can be reached at scooty.nickerson@globe.com.
