FRBB: Immigrants in New England Profile


New England’s immigration streams differ from those of the United States as a whole. Central America is the dominant sending region for the U.S. foreign-born population (36 percent of immigrants were born there). In contrast, only 7 percent of New England’s foreign-born were born in Central America.

Examining the immigrant population’s countries of origin reveals even more pronounced differences between New England and the United States. The most obvious difference is the influence of Mexican immigration. More generally, New England has no single country of origin that contributes such a large fraction of immigrants. Portugal, the leading country of origin for the region, accounts for only 7 percent of the region’s immigrants. Only three countries, China, India, and Canada, are in both the U.S. and New England’s top 10 countries of origin.

Although few children are immigrants themselves, many have parents who are immigrants. In fact, over 20% of New England’s children live in households with an immigrant. An examination of the household composition shows New Englanders are twice as likely to live in a “mixed” household, where there are both natives and immigrants, than in a household comprised of only immigrants.

Overall, 20% of New England’s population lives in a household with an immigrant.

New England’s immigrant profile is changing rapidly. Since 1990, the number of immigrants has risen, and the share from the Caribbean, Central America, and Asia has grown. The shifting regional dominance stems from growing immigrant streams from these new regions and shrinking populations of European immigrants. Many of New England’s European immigrants are very old, and their populations are declining.


Nearly one-third of immigrants have less than the equivalent of a full high school education. This is double the share of the native-born population with that level of completed education. However, New England immigrants are more likely than natives to have completed an advanced degree.

The median household income for all U.S. immigrants in 2000 was $39,200. The median for New England immigrants was $42,000, seven percent higher. Within this population, however, there is a large difference between newer immigrants and more established immigrants. Immigrants who arrived in the U.S. after 1990 have a median household income of $37,500, compared with $45,210 for immigrants who arrived before 1980. Regardless of when they immigrated, the region’s immigrants have household incomes below those of the native-born population.