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

While places like Chinatown in Center City or the Italian Market in South Philly may command media attention for their rich tapestry of immigrant communities, the Northeast touts an equally rich demographic breakdown, with a long history of "the largest concentration and variety of immigrants," according to Pew.

The Northeast has concentrations of Dominicans, Jamaicans, Haitians, Egyptians, Moroccans, Albanians, and Ukrainians, along with other immigrants from post-Soviet countries. The largest concentration of Chinese immigrants is not in Chinatown but in the Lower Northeast.

In the 2018 to 2022 period, the Somerton and Oxford Circle sections of the city had the highest percentages of immigrants per capita.

What does this mean for our population race?

For Philly boosters, the ebbs and flows in immigrant populations are not nothing. The U.S.-born population has been shrinking since the 1950s, dipping to 1.32 million in 2022 — the lowest since 1910.

The City of Brotherly Love has remained on the list of the 10 largest cities thanks to a boost of immigrants calling the city home, though we are still losing the population tug-of-war with perennial rival Phoenix.

A declining population raises questions about the future of the city's tax base and overall health.

The billion-dollar question is whether the city can continue to rely on immigration for growth. That will depend on whether Philly can attract more immigrants, something not entirely in its control — there was a drop in immigration from 2017 to 2020 amid changing immigration policy.

There's also the question of whether the children of immigrants will choose to stay in the city.

"It's a key question, actually," said Ginsberg. "Will Philadelphia attract and keep, not just the immigrants, but their children also?"