This chart depicts the New England population in each decade of the 20th century according to the U.S. decennial census. While the region’s population has more than doubled, the total U.S. population has nearly quadrupled. Consequently, New Englanders now represent a smaller share of the total U.S. population than they did in 1900, dropping from 7.3 percent to less than 5 percent.

The chart also illustrates each state’s contribution to the total New England population. Throughout the last century, Massachusetts and Connecticut represented the greatest proportion of the region’s population, and in the year 2000 were home to 70 percent of all New England residents.

In this chart, the population of each of the six New England states is indexed to 1.0 in 1900 and the population relative to this point is plotted for each subsequent decade. Connecticut and New Hampshire have seen the greatest gains in population with head counts in 2000 that are 3.75 and 3 times respectively larger than those in 1900. Conversely, Maine and Vermont grew relatively slowly with the 2000 population only about 1.8 times greater than head counts at the beginning of the century. Over the century, Connecticut was the only state with population growth outpacing the nation, while the other five New England states lagged relative to U.S. population growth.

The index also provides a sense of the relative speed of growth for each state in each decade. Connecticut, for example, experienced rapid population growth in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, but tapered off in recent decades. New Hampshire’s population has sped up more recently with rapid growth since the 1960s.

Population growth is affected by domestic and by international events that impact birth rates and international migration patterns. This chart shows decade over decade population growth for New England set in the context of major twentieth century events. Population growth slowed in the early part of the century because of the geopolitical and economic uncertainty created by World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II. However, with victory in hand, economic recovery underway, and thousands of men returning from war, population boomed during the late 1940s through the mid 1960s in an era coined the “Baby Boom.” As the smaller generation born in the depression became the main child bearers, the baby boom turned “bust.” Moreover, the rising female labor force participation, increased ease of contraception and access to abortions amplified this decline in fertility. The 1980s, however, gave rise to the “echo boom” as baby boomers started having children of their own.

Comparing the racial and ethnic composition of New England and the United States in 2000, New England is considerably less racially diverse than the nation as a whole. While whites make up 75 percent of the national population, they constitute 87 percent of New England’s population. Every other group is underrepresented in New England relative to their share in the U.S. population, including the Hispanic population which constitutes only 6.3 percent of New England’s population, while making up 12.5 percent of all Americans. The Southern New England states -- Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island – are more racially diverse than the northern states where whites make up all but 3 percent of the population.

Reflecting demographic shifts in the population, the 2000 Census expanded the possible racial category responses. For the first time, Americans were able to choose more than one racial category to represent their background and 2 percent utilized this option. Additionally, 6 percent of Americans choose “some other” illustrating the growing number of people who do not identify with the traditional racial categories.

Of note, as of July 2002, Hispanics surpassed blacks as the largest minority ethnic or racial group in America. The U.S. Census Bureau categorizes Hispanic Origin as an ethnicity rather than a race, and people who indicate they are of Hispanic Origin can be of any race.

Comparing the racial and ethnic composition of New England and the United States in 2000, New England is considerably less racially diverse than the nation as a whole. While whites make up 75 percent of the national population, they constitute 87 percent of New England’s population. Every other group is underrepresented in New England relative to their share in the U.S. population, including the Hispanic population which constitutes only 6.3 percent of New England’s population, while making up 12.5 percent of all Americans. The Southern New England states -- Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island – are more racially diverse than the northern states where whites make up all but 3 percent of the population.

Reflecting demographic shifts in the population, the 2000 Census expanded the possible racial category responses. For the first time, Americans were able to choose more than one racial category to represent their background and 2 percent utilized this option. Additionally, 6 percent of Americans choose “some other” illustrating the growing number of people who do not identify with the traditional racial categories.

Of note, as of July 2002, Hispanics surpassed blacks as the largest minority ethnic or racial group in America. The U.S. Census Bureau categorizes Hispanic Origin as an ethnicity rather than a race, and people who indicate they are of Hispanic Origin can be of any race.

Over time, Americans have become more highly educated. In 1970, only 56 percent of Americans had graduated from high school, and only 11 percent had completed 4 years of college. By 2000, however, these numbers had jumped to 84 percent and 26 percent, respectively. Comparing New England with the nation, the region has gained an educational edge in the past 30 years. In 1970, New England, had a greater fraction of high school graduates than the nation, but had a similar share of college graduates. By 2000, however, a larger fraction of New Englanders had received a higher education degree than in the U.S. as a whole. Thirty one percent of the region’s population now holds a college degree, while 11 percent have advanced degrees.

These charts display New England’s changing nativity profile. The chart on the left depicts the shares of the region’s population born in New England, born in other regions of the United States, and born in foreign countries in each census year from 1910 (except 1930). The chart on the right provides a more detailed view of the population born abroad.

About 68 percent of New England residents in 2000 were born in the region. This is down from a peak of 73 percent in 1950, as domestic migration increased significantly in the second half of the twentieth century. In 1910, slightly over 10 percent of New England’s population was born elsewhere in the United States. By 2000, this number had grown to over 21 percent. In 2000, individuals born in foreign countries accounted for the remaining 11 percent of total population.

The most striking pattern is the decline in the European share of New England’s foreign-born population beginning after 1920. In 1910, nearly 1 in 5 New Englanders had been born in Europe. By 2000, fewer than 1 in 20 were. Immigrants from Canada also represented a progressively smaller share over the century, accounting for over 8 percent of the foreign-born population in 1910, but dwindling to just under 1 percent by 2000.

The steep drop in the European-born population share starting around 1920 indicates the end of the massive waves of immigration that characterized American demographic change in the early part of the twentieth century. Driven largely by this trend, New England’s foreign-born population declined as a share of the region’s total population throughout the century until the last 20 years, when immigration from Asia and Latin America caused this share to rise again. In 2000, persons born in Latin America and the Caribbean accounted for about 3 percent of New England population, while immigrants from Asia represented about 2 percent.