Demographics Shift In Worcester's Favor
The city and county of Worcester made some impressive population gains from 2000 to 2010, according to the recent U.S. Census. The city’s population grew at nearly 4.9 percent, making it the fastest growing major city in the state. Meanwhile the county grew by an impressive 6.3 percent, adding almost 50,000 residents.
What drove this population increase? One major ingredient seems to be the affordability factor. People working in Boston and along the Interstate 495 or Route 128 corridors have chosen the land or real estate value they receive in Worcester County over Middlesex County (Middlesex’s population only increased by 2.6 percent during the same period). Want proof? The largest growth rates in Worcester County, at roughly 20 percent, surrounded the areas where the transportation infrastructure was recently most upgraded near the MBTA commuter rail station in Grafton and the Route 146/Massachusetts Turnpike connector. This bodes extremely well for the city of Worcester, which is expected to see a boost in commuter rail access when the number of trains traveling from Worcester to Boston will be increased by up to 20 more train trips per day.
Well Positioned
A second reason for the impressive growth in Worcester is that the city’s main industries (other than insurance) are all favored and massively supported by government. Over the past decade, health care, education, life sciences, biotechnology and bioengineering research have been extremely well treated by government at every level. Worcester’s employers and universities predominate in these areas. Another government favorite is military spending, as represented by Raytheon, Kopin and other companies in and around Worcester County.
The final positive determinant of Worcester’s increasing population is due to increased immigration. Roughly one-third of the people living in the city of Worcester are now people of color. The overwhelming majority of these people of color are not native-born Americans of African-American or Puerto Rican descent, but actual newcomers to the United States. In the city of Worcester, the African-American population has increased from 6.9 percent to 12 percent of the total population, primarily due to the large influx of people from Africa, particularly Ghana. The Hispanic population, which increased from 15.1 percent to 21 percent, became more immigrant and less native-born American (Puerto Rican).
Further, Asians now make up 6 percent of the city of Worcester, up from 4.9 percent in 2000. Asians, particularly of Indian and Chinese origin, are also increasing countywide, up from 2.6 percent to 4 percent and now make up a whopping 17.4 percent of Westborough’s population and 15.3 percent of Shrewsbury’s.
All of these demographic and U.S. Census data trends bode well for Worcester’s future.
Randy Feldman is an immigration lawyer and political commentator. For more information, visit his website, www.bigmouthmanifesto.com.
Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the proportion of the city of Worcester's population that are non-white. One-third of the population is people of color.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments