Dominicans

According to data from the 2009-2011 ACS, there are 365,520 foreign-born Dominicans in New York City. As the largest foreign-born group in the city, they make up 4.5 percent of the total city population (of 8,183,757) and 12.1 percent of the city’s total foreign-born population (of 3,019,068). The Dominican foreign born make up 37.9 percent of all 964,186 foreign-born Latinos in the city. Furthermore, the Dominican foreign born make up 62.6 percent of the 584,239 individuals in New York City who are of Dominican descent, which also includes Dominicans who are the native-born descendants of immigrants.

Almost all Dominican immigrants living in New York City have migrated to the United States because of ties with family members already in the country. Of those who came to the United States between 1990 and 1999, 61 percent use family preference visas and an additional 38 percent used an immediate relative visa to enter, which means that they are the spouses, children, or parents of U.S. citizens. Only 0.5 percent of Dominicans immigrants in the city entered the U.S. with an employment visa. No Dominican immigrants in the city came as refugees and none used diversity visas to enter the United States. While family ties are important in explaining the migration of all immigrant groups we studies, they are especially important in explaining the migration experiences of Dominicans in New York City.

Where in New York City do Dominican immigrants live? They can be found in all five boroughs, but the largest shares live in the Bronx (42 percent) and Manhattan (29 percent), and the smallest share (1 percent) lives in Staten Island. Dominican immigrants are relatively more concentrated in the two boroughs of the Bronx and Manhattan than are Mexican immigrants and all foreign-born individuals. The largest shares of foreign-born Mexicans (30 percent) and of all foreign-born individuals (35 percent live) live in Queens, while also only very small shares (4 percent and 3 percent, respectively) reside in Staten Island.

To determine how well immigrants are integrating into American society, it is important to consider their English language skills. According data from the 2009-2011 ACS, only 3 percent of foreign-born Dominicans aged five years and over speak only English at home, which is the same percentage for foreign-born Mexicans (another predominantly Spanish-speaking immigrant group in NYC) but significantly lower compared to all foreign-born individuals in the city (23 percent). Overall, foreign-born Dominicans are more linguistically integrated than foreign-born Mexicans, but less so compared to all immigrant groups in the city. More specifically, 50 percent of foreign-born Dominicans aged 5 and over speak English “not well” or “not at all,” compared to 62 percent of foreign-born Mexicans and 29 percent of all of the city’s foreign born.

We often hear stories of immigrants who struggle economically and have difficulties to make ends meet. How are Dominicans immigrants in NYC doing? One way of getting at that is to look at the percentage of foreign-born Dominicans living in poverty (i.e., they live in households with annual incomes below or at [0-100%] of the federal poverty level), near poverty (i.e., households with annual incomes near [101-199%] of the federal poverty level), and above poverty (i.e., households with annual incomes above [200%+] of the federal poverty level). As the above bar graph shows, 60 percent of foreign-born Dominicans live in or near poverty, compared to 66 percent of foreign-born Mexicans, 43 percent of all foreign-born individuals, and 39 percent of all native-born New Yorkers. While the city is difficult place to make ends meet for many people, this is particularly true for foreign-born Dominicans and foreign-born Mexicans.

Sources:

Lobo, Arun Peter, and Joseph J. Salvo.  2004.  The Newest New Yorkers, 2000: Immigrant New York in the New Millennium.  New York: New York City Department of City Planning, Population Division.

U.S. Census Bureau.  2009-2011.  American Community Survey, 3-year estimates 2009-2011.  (IPUMS data analyzed by John Mollenkopf, CUNY Graduate Center).