Dominicans are on track to become Philadelphia's largest immigrant group and 3 other takeaways from a new Pew report

The Latino population almost doubled, exceeding 252,000 people — and the makeup looked drastically different. Puerto Ricans only accounted for 55% of the population and 22% of Latinos reported being foreign-born. Newcomers born in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Guatemala, and Colombia led the surge in those years.

¿Qué lo que? What's up?: Dominicans on pace to become city's largest immigrant group

Excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan, China has long been one of the top countries of origin for foreign-born immigrants in Philadelphia, helping the number of foreign-born Asian immigrants more than triple since 2000.

Between 2018 and 2022, about 24,400 people reported being from China, or about 1 in 10 of immigrants in the city.

The Dominican Republic, however, was not far behind, becoming the second-highest country of origin for the same period with about 22,800 people. According to Pew, Dominicans are on track to become the city's largest immigrant group.

Philly not a "global destination" but a sensible second choice for immigrants

While cities like New York and Boston are direct landing spots for immigrant newcomers, Philadelphia tends to be more of a secondary destination, which researchers say speaks to the city's affordability and established immigrant communities.

Among immigrants who have been in the country for a year or less in the past decade, almost half have not come to Philly directly from abroad.

But where they're coming from may surprise you, with Montgomery County being the top county of origin for immigrant populations between 2018 and 2022, followed by Kings County (Brooklyn) in New York, Delaware County, and Bronx County. These counties were also the top destinations for immigrants leaving the city.

The Northeast: Immigration hotspot

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