Immigrant Settlement in Greater Boston, 1870-2020

This animated map shows the percentage of foreign-born residents in the cities and towns of Greater Boston since 1870. To see a fuller discussion of the trends and an interactive map with with community-level data over time, please click here. For historical profiles of specific neighborhoods and towns, see boxes below.

Source: US Census, 1870-2010

Immigrant Places

The North End

The North End is Boston’s oldest and most iconic immigrant neighborhood. Its proximity to the waterfront and the city’s downtown markets made it an enduring gateway for new arrivals from Ireland to Russia. But it was Italians who proved to be the neighborhood’s most important denizens in the twentieth century, and it soon became known as Boston’s Little Italy, a reputation it still has today.

Chinatown

Once the edge of Boston’s South Cove, the Chinatown neighborhood dates back to the 1870s and remains the largest center of Asian-American life in New England. Chinatown Atlas, a digital project on the neighborhood’s history, offers an exciting window into its culture and evolution.

The West End

Once an outlying rural peninsula, the West End became one of Boston’s most populous immigrant districts at the turn of the twentieth century. The expansion of the railroad and other industries attracted thousands of newcomers, especially Jews and Italians. When its population declined after World War II, the West End became the site of the city’s first major urban renewal project, displacing many of its immigrant residents.

East Boston

Situated just across the harbor from the North End, East Boston has been a zone of emergence for striving immigrants since its founding in the 1830s. Today it has the highest proportion of foreign-born residents of any Boston neighborhood.

The South End

Built on landfill in the early nineteenth century, the South End became the city’s most diverse neighborhood. From the Irish and Germans of the 1840s to the Latino migrants of the 1970s, the neighborhood attracted a dazzling array of immigrants until redevelopment and gentrification made the area unaffordable for many.

Roxbury

Originally a separate town west of Boston, Roxbury began attracting immigrants even before it was annexed by the city in 1868. Since then Irish, Jewish, West Indian, Dominican, and African immigrants have all shaped the neighborhood’s development and culture–even as its African American population remains a strong presence.

Dorchester

A separate town until annexed by Boston in 1870, Dorchester attracted successive waves of Irish, Jewish, and other immigrants attracted by its extensive streetcar lines and triple decker homes. Today Haitians, Vietnamese, West Indians and Cape Verdeans call this Dorchester home, making it one of the city’s most diverse neighborhoods.

Roslindale

Once part of Roxbury, Roslindale became a “garden suburb” of Boston where immigrant Irish, German, and Canadian workers made their homes in the late 19th century. Migrants and refugees from Europe and the Mediterranean followed in the 20th century. Since the 1980s, newcomers from the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Middle East have moved in, opening an array of ethnic businesses that give Roslindale Village its distinctly international flavor.

South Boston

Once known as Dorchester Neck, South Boston became a major industrial center and the city’s preeminent Irish and Irish-American neighborhood for more than a century. But it has also been home to eastern and southern Europeans as well as recent immigrants from Asia and the Caribbean.

Allston-Brighton

Once a center of Boston’s slaughter houses and its immigrant workers, the twin neighborhoods of Allston and Brighton are still brimming with newcomers from across the globe. But today many come via the area’s universities and live amid a diverse streetscape of ethnic eateries and businesses.

Jamaica Plain

Known for its scenic pond and once-sprawling estates, Jamaica Plain grew into an industrial powerhouse in the late 19th century. Its factories and breweries attracted thousands of Irish and German immigrants who settled mainly in the Hyde Square and Stony Brook neighborhoods. After 1960, new migrants from Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic arrived, bringing new vitality to what would become Boston’s Latin Quarter.

Cambridge

Like its sister city of Boston, Cambridge has attracted a breathtaking array of immigrant residents. From the industrial powerhouse of East Cambridge, to the clay pits and brickyards of the city’s north side, the city offered jobs and homes to generations of Irish, Italian, French Canadian, and other newcomers. Since World War II, its universities and businesses have attracted new generations of technical and professional workers from across the globe.

Chelsea

Once known as the “Jerusalem of America” because of its many Jewish residents, Chelsea was a major industrial center that attracted thousands of immigrants. Today, it still has the largest foreign-born population in Massachusetts, with many hailing from Central America.

Lynn

As the nation’s largest shoe manufacturing center in the early 20th century, Lynn attracted immigrant workers from across Europe. Although the industry fled the city long ago, new generations of global refugees and immigrants have transformed and revitalized Lynn once again.

Maynard

Once a quiet farming village, Maynard became a booming mill town in the late 19th century that attracted migrants from across Europe, but especially from Finland. Learn more about the Assabet Mill and the town’s thriving ethnic communities, cooperatives societies, and saunas.

Quincy

Granite quarries, shipyards, restaurants—these are some of the industries that brought a multitude of global migrants to Quincy over the past two centuries. See how immigrants have made their mark on this city, and how the community has responded to the newcomers.

Waltham

One of the oldest industrial centers in America, Waltham was home to a succession of European immigrants starting in the 1850s. More recently, the city’s emergence as a center of high tech employment has attracted newcomers from across the globe.