For the first time, there are more people of Puerto Rican origin living within the continental United States than there are on the Caribbean island, according to experts who study demographic trends.
The Puerto Rican population in the United States reached 4.2 million according to the 2008 American Community Survey, surpassing the 3.8 million in Puerto Rico, a research paper presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America in April 2010 reported.
The purpose of the paper, written by three staffers from the Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division of the U.S. Census Bureau, was to present “an up-to-date profile of the Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. and in the island of Puerto Rico.” The findings presented by Sonia G. Collazo, Camille L. Ryan and Kurt J. Bauman are likely to be confirmed by 2010 demographic census data to be released in April 2011.
The New York metropolitan area continued to be the main center of Puerto Rican population on the U.S. mainland, according to the researchers. However, from 1990 to 2008, they found that, the Puerto Rican population in the New York metropolitan area remained constant at 1.2 million, while it grew in most other locations – tripling in Florida to 744,000 and growing by 1 million across the rest of the country.
Focusing on the exponential growth in Florida, the researchers note that central Florida has become a gateway for migration from the island. In Orlando, they report, Puerto Ricans represent 49% of the Hispanic population and 11% of the population overall.
At the same time, preliminary census numbers point to a decline in population on the island of approximately 83,000, according to a recent article in Caribbean Business. The article, entitled "Puerto Rico not ready for demographic shift," was written by Frances Ryan and James Ferre and published on January 13,2011.(frances@caribbeanbusinesspr.com). The drop suggests a continuing “brain drain” in Puerto Rico that is sending more islanders to the U.S. mainland in search of opportunities because of the deep and long recession that has plagued the island’s economy.
Florida, of course, has not done much better with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, but economic conditions are thought to be better than on the island, where the official unemployment rate is over 12% and unofficially estimated at close to 30%. Puerto Ricans on the island, therefore, may migrate to Florida with higher expectations.
Puerto Ricans in Florida, for example, have higher household income and education levels than Puerto Ricans living in other parts of the country or on the island. However, their English skills are not always better than those in the New York metropolitan area or nationally. Another characteristic noted among Puerto Ricans in Florida is that more households contain families with children, rather than single mothers with children, which suggests a more stable community structure.
Clearly, Puerto Ricans are contributing more and more to the increased influence of Hispanics throughout Florida. Raw data from the 2010 census recently indicated that the Hispanic population overall has grown significantly along the I-4 corridor to around 90,.000, hopefully opening the way for greater Latino political participation in the state in the future.
